Recent History

The Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina was in many ways the heart of former Yugoslavia, both geographically and culturally. It was  home to 4.36 million people (1991), 44% of whom declared themselves Muslim, while there was also a significant number of Jews, Roma, Albanians, undetermined Yugoslavs and others (www.bosnia.org.uk). The ethnic diversity did not create territorial divisions, but was interconnected throughout this area.

After World War II, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo were put under one enormous autonomic state called (Communist) Yugoslavia (www.540.com/bosnia/briefings/crisis.html). However, on April 6, 1992, Bosnia-Herzegovina received international recognition of independence, as the majority of the population voted for autonomy.

Problems arose quickly for the newly independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, as tensions between different religions began. There was much aggression from the neighboring republics of Serbia and Croatia; Communist Federal Republic believed that independence was impossible because individuals within Bosnia were Serbians, Croatians, and Muslims, all with very different backgrounds. Therefore, the countries surrounding Bosnia sought to "carve out an ethnically pure Greater Serbia and Greater Croatia at Bosnia’s expense" (www.bosnia.org.uk).

The Bosnian population of all ethnicities endured great suffering throughout the 1992-1995 war, particularly because Serbia’s attack took a destructive character through ‘ethnic cleansing (mass killing and deportation of non-Serbs from occupied areas). Croatia’s attack also imitated this attitude particularly in 1993-1994. Suvada Veiz, a Bosnian refugee living in Utica, NY, stated, "Once we showed that socialism can be human, something began to happen that we did not understand… A Serb leader in Bosnia said that he would destroy our nation and our president. In four years the Serbs used all kinds of strategies to complete ethnic cleansing."

During the war, over a quarter of a million Bosnians were killed and over one million left the country. In addition to these figures, 800,000 became refugees in Bosnia. However, Bosnia-Herzegovina is still diverse in its ethnicity and contains Bosnians, Serbs, Croats, Jews, Roma and many more diverse groups (www.bosnia.org.uk). The fighting ended at the end of 1995 due to the Dayton Accords financed by the United States. The country was left divided into two parts, a 'Federation of B-H' in which only Bosnians and Croats have full constitutional rights and a 'Republika Srpska' (Serb Republic), in which only Serbs have full rights. This is an unstable situation because most refugees cannot return to their homes and thus it is not possible for the country to rebuild and economically prosper. The recovery is dependent on the democratic transformation, which also includes Croatia and Serbia, its neighboring countries. Not only was there a loss of loved ones for the Bosnians, but also a deterioration of culture and history through the many bombings of places such as churches, homes and museums.

Migration

· All of the Bosnian refugees are currently in Utica because of the war that was taking place from 1992-1995 (see recent history of Bosnians).

· It is important to note that many of the Bosnians did not come straight from Bosnia;  many fled to Germany for up to five years and then came to the United States.

· In the year 2000, 5,600 Bosnians live in central Utica.