One Woman's Experience

By Mickey Radakovich

This journey in Spring 1996 was a humanitarian expedition to aid the Serbian refugees. Their plight is one of great sadness and misery in the light of the world's one-sided perception of the conflict which occurred in Bosna. The perception is that the Serbs are the aggressors and villains, when in fact they were only protecting their lands on which they have lived for generations. One million Serbs have been displaced in this conflict; they are the innocent victims of a war that has destroyed a country.

Republika Srpska today
Bombed homes of the innocent on the road from Belgrade to Banja Luka.

Krajina Serbs flee
The bombing in the Fall of 1995 led to the flight of hundreds of thousands of Serbs from the Krajina region.

Army hospital - Banja Luka
Here are the defenders of their land, who are also asking the same question: Why?

Refugee life: living conditions
Life in the refugee centers is grim and deplorable.

The children and orphans
The most heart wrenching sight is that of the children.

Meal time
The storage facilities for food are deplorable.

Tetka Mika
My Aunt was forced to flee from Bosna in the wake of the bombings.

Understanding the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and the role of foreign powers along with the media requires a deep understanding of the complex regional history and recent events. In 1991 Croatia seceded and persecuted ethnic Serbs. When the ethnic Serbs further seceded, only the Serbs were called "aggressors". Then only the Serbs were isolated by sanctions and embargoes. In Bosnia Islamic fundamentalists pushed for independence. The Bosnian Serbs refused, fearing the Muslim domination which they had endured for 500 years under the Ottoman rule and the genocide of the Serbs supporting the Allies in WWII. The issue which must be addressed here concerns justice and equality of treatment. The Serbs must be allowed the freedom of choice and their rights must also be respected.