BRADFORD district-based members of a delegation who visited the scene of Europe’s worst atrocity since the Second World War have spoken of their devastation at what they heard.

Luqman Rashid, who owns Cafe Zoya, in Leeds Road, Bradford, and Javed Bashir, of Highfield, Keighley, were among a group which visited Bosnia-Herzegovina to learn about the mass murder in Srebrenica.

In 1995 General Ratko Mladic and his Bosnian Serb forces systematically murdered 8,372 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, even though the area had previously been declared a United Nations Safe Area. Dutch peacekeepers in Srebrenica failed to prevent the massacre.

Mr Rashid says he plans to hold fundraising dinners and multi-cultural workshops in Bradford following his visit.

He said: “The visit has left a lasting impression on me. It is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“The extent of what happened, and how the international community failed the country at the time, is devastating.

“I take from it that we need to promote peace and tolerance and live side by side, regardless of faith and background.”

Mr Rashid returned from Bosnia after being invited to travel there by the Remembering Srebrenica initiative.

One of the aims of the project is to help participants learn how they can improve community cohesion in their own towns and cities.

While in Bosnia, Mr Rashid and the rest of the delegation met educational specialists, the British Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, members of the Mothers of Srebrenica group and other genocide survivors.

Mr Bashir, founder of Professional Muslim Institute and honorary fellow at University of Bradford, who was also part of the delegation, said: “The three-day visit was both deeply moving and fascinating.

“We visited Sarajevo, where Resad Trbonja talked about his experiences when the city was under siege for four years. He showed us the site that he had fought from on the frontline, as well as a tunnel which was used to bring in essential medical supplies.

“We visited the Children of the War, Holocaust, and Crime Against Humanity museums.

“In Srebrenica we met Hasan Hasanovic, who survived the genocide when he was a teenager.

“He escaped by walking more than 60 miles to the safety of Tuzla, while being shot at and shelled. With no food, water or any provisions, he saw many die.

“Hasan’s story was devastating. You could see he was reliving the events and visualising every detail of what had happened.

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“After the war, Srebrenica had been ‘ethnically cleansed’, but Hasan and others moved back. The current mayor of Srebrenica, Mladen Grujicic, is a Serbian nationalist who denies the genocide. Hasan feels that moving back to the town is the most powerful message that can be sent, reintegrating society without animosity or hatred.”

Mr Bashir also went to the Memorial Centre, just outside Srebrenica, where the remains of many of those murdered in the massacre are buried.