delegation of civil society representatives and families of missing and injured Ukrainians arrived in Sarajevo, where they will have the opportunity to learn about the complex process of searching for the missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The visit was organized by the Western Balkans Program of the International Commission on Missing Persons and the Ukrainian Program of the International Commission on Missing Persons.

Sasa Kulukcija from the International Commission on Missing Persons program for the Western Balkans pointed out that they are working on cooperation in which families of the missing and civil society associations of Ukraine will see how the missing persons are searched for in Bosnia and Herzegovina and how the process generally works, given that BiH and the entire Western Balkans have vast experience in searching for the missing with the best results.

“No post-conflict territory has found and identified even the approximate number of missing people as in the Western Balkans. Some 75 percent of those who disappeared after the war were found and identified. Around 40,000 people have been reported missing in the entire former Yugoslavia, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that number is around 32,000. Of that number, a total of 11,000 people are still being searched for and there are still over 7,000 missing people in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Kulukcija told FENA.

He pointed out that during these educational talks, Ukrainians will have the opportunity to see how the process works in BiH.

“They will see what they can learn and apply to Ukraine. How to advocate for the rights of the families of missing persons and how to deal with this issue in the years to come,” he said.

After Sarajevo, the delegation from Ukraine will visit Srebrenica and Tuzla.

The guests from Ukraine will visit the Srebrenica Memorial Centre where they will meet with the director, Emir Suljagic, and representatives of the families of those who disappeared in Srebrenica, members of the Association “Movement of Mothers of the Srebrenica and Zepa Enclaves”.

During their stay in Tuzla, a visit to organizations dealing with the issue of missing persons is also planned, and on that occasion, a meeting with the Advisory Board of the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH will be held.