In July 2025, the world marked 30 years since the genocide committed at Srebrenica, Bosnia and
Herzegovina. A major campaign by Islamic Relief honoured victims and survivors and shared how
we continue to support affected communities.
On 11 July 1995, Bosnian Serb soldiers captured Srebrenica and, over the next few days,
systematically murdered more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys.
These atrocities were the largest massacres carried out on European soil since World War II, and
continue to haunt survivors. Even now, mass graves are still being uncovered and remains
identified.
In 2025, much of Bosnia is still scarred by the impact of the Bosnian War – known locally as the
Aggression in Bosnia – during which the genocide took place. In many rural areas damaged and
destroyed homes have yet to be rebuilt, while buildings in the capital, Sarajevo, remain riddled
with bullet holes.
An entire generation of Bosnians only know their parents from photographs and home videos.
Whether they lost fathers and brothers in the genocide, or mothers and sisters in the conflict,
thousands carry a sense of loss with them every day. Ethnic tensions remain high and many
survivors still regularly cross paths with those who committed atrocities against them and their
families.