White roses for Prijedor victims, 102 children still without a permanent memorial

(Patria) - The Day of White Ribbons was marked today in Prijedor's central square, with participants walking to the square in a procession.

Those gathered wore white ribbons around their arms, as the non-Serb population was marked in 1992 when, via Radio Prijedor, they were ordered to mark their apartments and houses with white flags, and to wear white ribbons around their arms when walking.

By laying 102 white roses in a circle on the square with the names of murdered Prijedor children, the need for the final construction of a memorial was once again highlighted. The city authorities have still not issued a permit for the construction of the memorial, nor has a location been determined.

More than 3,000 civilians murdered

The organizers of the commemoration, the citizen initiative "Because it concerns me," state that on May 31, 1992, the Prijedor Crisis Headquarters ordered the non-Serb population to hang white flags or cloths on their windows and to wear white ribbons around their arms when moving around the city. After that, camps were established in Prijedor, through which 30,000 Bosniaks and Croats passed. More than 3,000 of them were killed.

From 1992 to 1995, about 50,000 people were expelled from Prijedor, and about 30,000 men, women, and children of non-Serb nationality passed through the Keraterm, Omarska, and Trnopolje camps, as well as 54 other detention sites.

For years, May 31 has been used to point out the significance of marking this date, but also to emphasize the need to nurture a culture of remembrance and not to forget the crimes committed in that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in other places.