Belfast City Council motion to remember Srebrenica genoocide

The move, proposed by Alliance councillor David Armitage and seconded by the DUP’s George Dorrian, comes ahead of a series of events across Belfast to remember the massacre.

More than 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces on July 11, 1995 and 20,000 more civilians were displaced from the Srebrenica area in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

What took place at Srebrenica almost 25 years ago would go on to be remembered as one of the worst cases of ethnic cleansing Europe has ever seen.

On July 8, Crescent Arts Centre will be screening ‘Fog of Srebrenica’, a documentary telling the stories of the survivors of the genocide.

Belfast City Hall will host a commemoration event on July 10, and an inter-faith walk will take place from city hall to St Anne’s Cathedral on Sunday July 15.

The series of events has been organised with the help of Remembering Srebrenica NI, the Northern Ireland arm of the UK charity Remembering Srebrenica.

Mr Armitage said he is bring the motion before BCC to combat hate crime and to remember the genocide so that history does not repeat itself.

“Forget the ethnic origin, the religious outlook. These are people. Fathers, brothers, sons. Murdered,” he said.