The UK Government’s Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty , and the Minister for Communities and Faiths, Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE, officially unveiled the UK’s 2023 Srebrenica Genocide Commemoration theme , ‘Together We Are One’, in the Houses of Parliament to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the Bosnian genocide – the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War.
Between 1992 and 1995, an inhumane plan of ethnic cleansing of Bosniak Muslims from Bosnia and Herzegovina was carried out. The Bosnian genocide was therefore the planned, systematic and industrialized killing of just under 100,000 Muslims, the displacement of two million people and the genocidal rape of up to 50,000 women simply because of their Muslim identity. In the space of just a few days in July 1995, over 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed and buried in mass graves in Srebrenica alone, in what Judge Fouad Riad of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia described as “truly scenes from hell, written in the darkest pages of human history”.
As a result of the work of Remembering Srebrenica, the United Kingdom is the only country outside Bosnia and Herzegovina to commemorate the Bosnian genocide at a national level . The charity, which has received cross-party support in the British Parliament, as well as the support of His Majesty King Charles III, is responsible for organising the largest number of commemorative activities in the world through its eight English regional committees and three national committees in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 1,500 activists to pay tribute to the victims and survivors of the genocide and educate people about the dangers of hatred and the importance of building more cohesive communities for all.
Each year Remembering Srebrenica chooses a theme that both reflects the aspect of the genocide that needs to be commemorated, but also speaks to communities here in the UK. The theme will be organised at hundreds of commemorations across the country in local communities, schools and town halls during UK Srebrenica Remembrance Week, which this year runs from Tuesday 4 July to Tuesday 11 July .
The theme for 2023 is “ Together We Are One.” It will seek to provide communities with a better understanding of the behaviors and influences around them that can build or damage a cohesive community, and equip them with the skills and confidence to confront the forces of hate that allow intolerance to thrive if left unchecked. It will also encourage people to consider how we can foster an environment that helps highlight similarities between groups and find common ground with people from diverse backgrounds rather than focusing on one aspect of their identity.
Other speakers at the parliamentary reception who raised the topic were Azra Omerbegović , a survivor of Bosnian genocide and ethnic cleansing, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth , Chair of Remembering Srebrenica, Alicia Kearns MP, Patron of the BH UK Network, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Yasmin Qureshi MP , Shadow Secretary of State for Equality and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Srebrenica, Dr. Waqar Azmi OBE , Chair of Remembering Srebrenica UK, Rt Hon Colonel Bob Stewart MP , former British Commander of the United Nations Forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rt Hon Ian Blackford , former Leader of the Scottish National Party Westminster Group and His Excellency Vanja Filipović , Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina in London.
Dr Waqar Azmi OBE, Chair of Remembering Srebrenica, said: “We are proud that our country is the largest commemorator of Srebrenica memorial activities in the world. We hope that this year’s theme will help empower communities to actively fight stereotypes, scapegoats, hate speech and dehumanizing language and counter this by coming together as one community against hatred and division and working to create a society characterized by embracing our common humanity.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network
