Events will be held in Bradford to remember the Srebrenica genocide.

This year will mark the 27th anniversary of the Bosnia genocide in 1995, in remembrance of this atrocity Bradford Council has organised three events to raise awareness of how hatred can lead to tragic loss of life.

The Srebrenica genocide was the single greatest atrocity to take place in Europe since the Second World War and saw the systematic massacre of more than 8,000 Bosnian men and young boys in less than one week at Srebrenica, a UN protected area and safe haven.

Bradford was the first city in the UK to lay a memorial stone to commemorate Srebrenica, which is in the Peace Garden behind City Hall.

The theme for 2022 is ‘Combatting Denial: Challenging Hatred’.

Secondary school students and representatives from community groups across the Bradford district will come together to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the genocide.

Events have been planned to mark National Remembering Srebrenica Week which have been organised by Bradford Council alongside Bradford Hate Crime Alliance and ‘SpeakOut’ a peer education programme for students.

A debate for secondary school students took place yesterday in City Hall, and the Srebrenica flag will be raised in City Park on Monday on National Remembering Srebrenica Day. Cllr Sabiya Khan (Bradford Remembering Srebrenica Ambassador) will be joined by students from Newby Primary School.

The third event is an educational film screening for secondary school pupils, the screening will show the story of two survivors of the Srebrenica genocide and their new life in Bradford after fleeing Bosnia. After the screening there will be a panel discussion from individuals involved in the creation of these videos. This will take place on Friday July 15 at the Pictureville Cinema, National Media Museum.

The film screening will then be followed the Civic event where The Lord Mayor and Council Leader alongside Bosnian representatives, secondary students from Belle Vue Girls Academy and Bronte Girls Academy will take part in a collective act of remembrance to commemorate the victims of the genocide at Srebrenica.

Cllr Khan said “It is important in Bradford as a city of Sanctuary that we annually commemorate and honour the victims of the genocide in Bosnia which took place 27 years ago, when over 8,000 Muslim men were killed. We are a diverse City where all cultures and faiths are embraced and supported to live peacefully together, hate which can lead to genocide has no place here we work in partnership to tackle this proactively”