Student-organized vigil commemorates Bosnian Genocide
Students gather in Meyerhoff Park Wednesday night to discuss the Bosnian Genocide and to commemorate those who died. (Jennifer Hu/Daily Bruin)
By Amanda Wilcox
May 14, 2015 2:00 a.m.
Merima Tricic’s family was forced to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993. The mass funeral she attended a few years ago was a reminder of what her relatives faced during the Bosnian War.
Like many Bosnian students at UCLA, Tricic, a third-year world arts and cultures, political science and study of religion student, is a child of the Bosnian War and a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre. The war resulted in about 100,000 deaths between 1992 and 1995, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Students discussed the Bosnian Genocide at a vigil Wednesday evening. Tricic, who coordinated the vigil with Din Catic, a fourth-year materials engineering student, said the event was held to remember those who died during the war and protest the arrests of Bosnian survivors living in the Balkan Peninsula.
“(Bosnian students) feel like we don’t have a space to discuss what our families went through during the war,” she said.
Tricic’s father lost his sight fighting the Serbian occupation during the war. She said she fears for her family’s safety and for other genocide survivors in the Balkan Peninsula, who she says are targeted and accused of terrorism by Serbian officials.
The recent Armenian Genocide remembrance on campus prompted the organizers to host one in remembrance of the Bosnian War, Tricic said.
“For years we’ve seen others recognize the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, but we have not seen vigils or remembrances for the Bosnian Genocide,” Tricic said. “This is one of the most recent genocides to occur, and it’s frustrating seeing how little knowledge there is about it.”
During the vigil, about 15 students stood in a circle in Meyerhoff Park, where they listened to students’ accounts of the war and genocide.
Tricic said her father and pregnant mother fled from Bosnia to Germany as medical refugees during the war. In 1993, a family in Fresno paid for them to immigrate to the U.S., where Tricic was born.
Each year, the International Commission on Missing Persons finds more bodies of those killed during the war. Scientists perform DNA tests to identify the victims, and alert families of the deceased in May and June.
“It’s a very painful time for many Bosnians,” Catic said. “You can only imagine what it’s like finding bodies even 20 years after the war.”
Students also held a moment of silence before going to Rolfe Hall to discuss Bosnian history. During the discussion, Tricic shared jokes that she had heard in Bosnia about the war.
“Bosnians joke about the war a lot, not because it’s funny but because it’s the only way they can deal with what happened,” she said.
Third-year anthropology student Damali Stennette said she attended the event to learn more about the struggles faced by Bosnians.
Jodutt Basrawi, a third-year geology student from Saudi Arabia, said the discussion taught him more about similarities between historical events in Bosnia and current events in countries like Syria.
“Our goal was to teach people about the genocide and how Bosnians are still affected by it,” Tricic said.
She said she hopes the Bosnian government takes action to stop Serbian officials from arresting more survivors and demands the release of those unfairly arrested.
