VUKELIĆ: EXODUS AS TRAGIC LESSON SHOWS WHY REPUBLIKA SRPSKA MUST BE PROTECTED

BEOGRAD, FEBRUARY 21 /SRNA/ – The exodus of Serbs from Sarajevo in February and March 1996 was an epic tragedy and a warning to Serbs of how important it is to have their own state and to preserve Republika Srpska, Nikola Vukelić, State Secretary at Serbia’s Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, told SRNA.

"The example of Sarajevo shows what the fate of Serbs in Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Trebinje, or any other city in Republika Srpska would have been had Srpska not been defended in war and preserved in peace. There would practically be no Serbs left," Vukelić told SRNA.

He pointed out that the departure of Serbs from the Sarajevo valley was an extremely painful concession by the Serb side and one of the most tragic events of the wars of the 1990s, as what had been defended in war was surrendered in peace.

Vukelić pointed out that before the war, Sarajevo was one of the largest Serb cities in the then state, whereas today in that city, as in all other areas where territory was ceded, Serbs are practically absent or present only in small numbers.

He stated that for decades after the war, Sarajevo cultivated a narrative of Serb aggression and of the city as a victim, but described this as a historical falsification, arguing that Serbs had lived there for centuries.

"Serbs in BiH were a constituent people. They were always on the right side of history and brought freedom in the First and Second World Wars, yet were labeled aggressors simply because they defended themselves and sought to preserve a minimum of freedom and a life worthy of human dignity," Vukelić concluded.

The mass exodus of Sarajevo Serbs officially began on February 17, 1996, from Serb municipalities of Sarajevo that, following the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, were assigned to the Federation of BiH /FBiH/, and lasted almost until the end of March that year.

It is estimated that between 120,000 and 150,000 Serbs left their homes in the municipalities of Ilidža, Ilijaš, Vogošća, Hadžići, Rajlovac, Grbavica, and Novo Sarajevo, with one of the most distressing aspects being the exhumation and transfer of the remains of the deceased to the territory of Republika Srpska.