What I learnt in Bosnia

With bitter disappointment I read today that Australians think our tough immigration stance, including refugee policy, is fair or not strict enough. Tighten the borders. Keep 'them' away.

'Them' is a term in flux. From 1992-1995 refugees from Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) fled for safety to many countries. I met more than a handful of Bosnians emigrants on vacation to their home country (coming mainly from Germany, Austria and Sweden) within a few short hours of arriving in Mostar, the capital of Hercegovina and the country's 5th largest city. How interesting is a local's perspective: "We left in 1992 at the outbreak of war" or "We hid in our Croatian neighbour's house, and she feined to hate muslims when the authorities came. They believed her and I managed to escape to Sweden". Those who return to their homeland visit friends who never left, or those who were unable to remain in their adopted countries beyond the end of the war.

Those who managed to escape the war, to continue their lives without fear of sniper fire, rocket launchers and tanks, are much better off.

What happened in the former Yugoslav states between 1992 and 1995 is a puzzle which I am still trying to piece together. I will recount what I learnt below. However, what I do know for sure is this: what happened in BiH, as well as the attitudes, culture and tolerance of the people I met, demonstrate conclusively to me that religion is not, never has been, and never will be a true justification for war. It is an excuse for political establishments to deceive their populations into believing they are following a valid idealogical agenda when invariably the reason is political, inhumane and wrong.

I will divide my experiences into two further posts: Sarajevo and Mostar.