“With the fall of Srebrenica I came here to Tuzla, I was in Potocari when those Dutch soldiers were there. Unfortunately – They separated my father from me. In front of the Dutch soldiers. My husband and brother went through the woods, they weren’t in Potocari. My mother was killed in 1992 at the beginning of the war. She was never found nor identified. I submitted [her] DNA but they never found her. When they separated my father from me… I was with my underage daughter heading towards the bus and then they separated my father from me, they claimed he wouldn’t be able to [go with us]. They left, they separated the men. Fifteen years old, the men they separated from us women and children I entered the bus with [my] child and then…(unintelligible) they took us there in the buses
E: Were they found?
Yes, he was found and identified. In Potocari he disappeared, and then, that’s where he was killed.”
Survivor emphasizes Dutch military’s position as eyewitness. maybe interesting in relation to discussions on witnessing and power
Actor: Srebrenica survivor
Item type: Quote from group interview
Date: feb, 2023
DoJ Researcher: Siri Driessen
DoJ Research project: Back with a mission
Language: English
Original language: Bosnian
Context
Whereas much research in veteran care is characterised by a focus on the individual veteran and is conducted from a clinical perspective, in this study we use an interdisciplinary and relational perspective in which the encounters between veterans, their families and the local Bosnian population take centre stage. The knowledge gained from this will then be used to inform developments in national and international veteran care.
‘Back with a mission. Reconsidering return trips from a relational perspective’ iis an interdisciplinary research project that studies whether and how return trips to mission areas help war veterans, their partners and Bosnian citizens to give meaning to their war experiences.
In early 2021, the Dutch Ministry of Defence announced that it would organise return trips to Srebrenica for Dutchbat III veterans (stationed in Srebrenica during the genocide of July 1995) as a gesture of recognition and care. This project empirically analyses the encounters between Bosnian genocide survivors and veterans. It critically reflects on the possibilities and limitations of these encounters as a means of restoring relations between these different groups. In addition, a comparison is made with return trips to other areas of former UN missions, such as Lebanon.
The project builds on insights gained in an earlier pilot study (2019-2021) on return trips by veterans (which resulted in a report and recommendations for the itinerary of the trips). ‘Back with a mission’ is linked to the Dialogics of Justice research project at the University of Humanistic Studies and is a collaboration with Leiden University Medical Centre.
