BH UK NETWORK and our community in the UK are absolutely delighted that Sabit Jakupović has received an MBE for his years of dedication to organizing the Bosnian community in the UK and educating and commemorating the genocide.
“I am proud of this recognition, especially because through volunteer work in my organization (BiHCAH), BH UK Network, Remembering Srebrenica and HMT, I have actively worked to spread the truth about the Omarska and Manjača camps.” This modest Krajina resident, Sabit Jakupović, briefly commented.
Sabit is committed to building bridges in a deeply divided world and works tirelessly to improve the integration of the Bosnian community in the UK. He played a significant role in establishing the BH UK Network and was our President from 2014 to 2019. Significantly, he provided guidance, encouragement and support during the construction of our own centre. This project took several years but was finally completed in 2018 when Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, former Minister for Religions at the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, officially opened the Bosnian House in Birmingham.
Zaim Pašić, President of BH UK Network, said: “As one of the most active members of our community, Sabit’s positive impact on the wider community stems from sharing his life story at numerous commemorations at local and national levels. His creative and imaginative ideas attract and engage people from all walks of life, and I commend his deep commitment to increasing social cohesion and harmony in the UK. Congratulations to Sabit!”
Sabit was born in 1967 in Kevljani near Prijedor, he finished primary school in Petrov Gaj and Omarska, and high school in Novo Mesto in Slovenia. After finishing high school, he returned to his native Kevljani. At the very beginning of the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, he was arrested in his native Kevljani by paramilitary formations of the so-called Army of Republika Srpska and taken to the infamous Omarska camp, where he spent 72 days and went through torture, interrogation and mistreatment. From Omarska he was transferred to the Manjača camp, where he spent 48 days. On September 15, 1992, from the Manjača camp, in a group of 68 inmates, he was evacuated directly to Hertford, Great Britain, for hospital treatment.
Upon arriving in the UK, Sabit continued his education. He graduated in History and Education Studies, and is a qualified psychotherapist (cognitive behavioural therapy). Since graduating, he has worked in British education and for the last 11 years has worked for the Hertfordshire Social Services. Professional commitments have not prevented him from actively contributing to the development of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian diaspora in the UK.
In December 1995, he helped establish the Bosnian Herzegovinian Organisation in Hertfordshire. Furthermore, he played a key role in establishing a Bosnian supplementary school in Hertfordshire which provides weekend classes for children aged 5-15. Not surprisingly, he has been a volunteer teacher at the school for almost 30 years.
Through his work with the Bosnian-Herzegovinian organization in Hertfordshire, he collaborates with the BH UK Network, Remembering Srebrenica and the Holocaust Memorial Trust. He has participated in numerous commemorations across the UK, where he has actively contributed to the commemoration of the Holocaust (HMT) and the genocide in Srebrenica as a speaker about his memories of the Omarska and Manjača concentration camps.
Sabit also participated in the founding of the BH UK Network (Communities of BH Associations in Great Britain, 1996). First as a teacher, and then as a member of the Board of Directors, he made a huge contribution to the development of our umbrella organization of BH Associations in Great Britain. Together with other activists of the BH UK Network, he made a huge contribution to the purchase of a new center (2023), which he is particularly proud of and considers this multi-million project to be a truly historic success. for the Bosnian community in the UK and is the result of teamwork that we can all be proud of.
“Sabit is one of the founders of our association, which has been bringing our citizens together in Hertfordshire and beyond for almost three decades. We are proud and sincerely look forward to Sabit’s well-deserved recognition,” said Admir Švraka, president of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Association of Hertfordshire.
dr. Waqar Azmi OBE said: “As Chairman of Remembering Srebrenica and Patron of the BH UK Network, I am pleased to nominate Sabit Jakupović for His Majesty the King’s National Award. Carlsam III. As an educator, Sabit helped develop educational materials for teachers about the genocide in Bosnia, lectured to thousands of children in schools and spoke at commemorations for the victims of the Srebrenica genocide across the UK to teach people about the importance of rejecting hatred and building a more cohesive community.
I am absolutely delighted that His Majesty the King has accepted our nomination of Sabit and awarded him an MBE. On behalf of everyone at Remembering Srebrenica and the BH UK Network, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Sabit on this well-deserved honour.”
On behalf of BH UK Network, a big THANK YOU to Sabit for his enormous contribution to the development of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian community on the Island.
When your former president receives recognition from King Charles III, the only thing you can feel is pride and honour. That is exactly the mood at the BH UK Network, the umbrella organisation of BiH associations on the Island.
BH UK Network
