Eruption of Conscience

During the last week of July, Muslims from Zepa and Srebrenica increasingly frequently crossed into the FR of Yugoslavia in the 120 km long Bajina Basta border with Bosnia area. Reliable sources say these people further sought refuge across the Drina in three directions. The first is south, over the mountain ranges Tara and Zlatibor, toward Sandzak. Most of the people were found in this corridor and brought in to the border authorities. The second direction heads east: from Bajina Basta, through Uzice or Cacak, to Macedonia. The third route taken by Muslims fleeing Eastern Bosnia is northward, from Bajina Basta and Ljubovija, through Valjevo, to Belgrade and Vojvodina. There are no precise data about how many of the refugees have managed to pass the first control line along the Drina, but it is no secret that over a thousand citizens of Zepa and Srebrenica have passed through these corridors in Serbia.

There is no doubt that the Bosnian Serb authorities already had a scenario of "sending" the Srebrenica population to Serbia. To that aim, the Srebrenica population was recommended by megaphones or leaflets to save themselves: either by giving up on the road to Bratunac, by taking the corridor toward Tuzla and Kladanj, or by crossing the Drina, where, allegedly, the safety of all innocent civilians was guaranteed. The speed with which the troops on the right bank of the Drina reacted testifies that there is some truth in this: the Yugoslav Army border units received special instructions and warnings of the upcoming crossings in mid-July. The first groups that crossed the Drina were uncovered in three ways: they gave themselves up to the army and police in Serbia, they called to the army on the Bosnian bank, or they were arrested in Cacak, Pozega, Valjevo and Uzice. Such crossings lasted the whole second half of July and became increasingly frequent late last week. When news of these events spread, the border authorities and the Interior Ministry, Illegal Crossing Department organized an evacuation of the people fleeing Bosnia. There is no reliable information about where the people during the July 20-30 period have been evacuated, and they are estimated to number 120. They are presumed to have been deported to the Bosnian Serb Republic, whose authorities have expressed extreme interest in and craving for Zepa and Srebrenica runaways.

The latest wave of Drina-crossing took place in the night of July 30-31. A total of 501 Muslim civilians crossed into Serbia in groups of between 5 and 20 people (until the day this article was written). These people are in a horrible state, exhausted and drained. Before heading for the Drina, they spent several weeks wandering the woods round Srebrenica and Zepa. Most of them swam the Drina between Zepa and the village of Jagostica on Serbia's side. Yugoslav Army border units and Interior Ministry services interrogated them and sent them to collective centers. No one expected that the invasion of Muslim civilians fleeing across the Drina would reach such proportions until Tuesday, (August 1), when their number reached 500. Then, in the late afternoon, a political and RTV of Serbia delegations landed in a chopper on the spot, in the remote village of Jagostica. The refugees were visited by Refugee Commissioner Bratislava Buba Morina, who was accompanied by the Health Minister and International Red Cross representatives. This delegation made a "publicity" visit to the refugees in Mitrovac on Tara and the RTV of Serbia cameras shot the statements of "Alija's misled soldiers who trust Serbia and its leadership". At the same time, journalists were forbidden to work in and visit this region.

By the time this article was sent in (Wednesday, 5:30 P.M.), news arrived that all the Muslims that fled to Serbia have been taken to and accommodated in Branesko Polje near Uzice and that all of them are "protected" by the Serbian Internal Ministry.