Sarajevo was once a culturally diverse and thriving city. In the last census before the siege over 360 000 people were reported to be living in Sarajevo (‘1991 Population Census in Bosnia and Herzegovina’). The siege of Sarajevo which lasted 3 years saw many human rights abuses happen. People who were trapped in the city and couldn’t escape suffered from food shortages, violent abuses and even murderous sprees by the Bosnian Serb army occupying forces.
There were also many people who left Sarajevo right before the tragedy struck. In the last bus that left Sarajevo, like many others, my grandmother was able to escape, leaving behind most of her belongings including family photographs and treasured memorabilia. Many people never returned to Sarajevo after the war – whether it had become a place reminding them of traumatic happenings or they just had nowhere to come back to.
In the last census before the siege over 360 000 people were reported to be living in Sarajevo. (‘1991 Population Census in Bosnia and Herzegovina’) However, in the 2013 census only slightly over 275 000 people were reported to be living there (Popis 2013 BiH).
Sarajevo is not the only city this has happened to – people who were forced to flee their homes often found themselves unable to return – whether they consider it unsafe, unrealistic or they no longer want to come back (Rakela). After all – what they once called home is now a place where they feel like a stranger. This is the trauma of displacement which has become a painful unifying factor for many people from the region.
Veronika Vidovičová
Original image: Veronika Vidovičová