Dervišević: We are a small nation, but we will be powerful if we are united, both at home and in the diaspora

Azem Dervišević Zenga was born in Višegrad. Before the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, he was involved in organizing and forming the Patriotic League in the lower Drina region. He was a fighter and officer of the Army of RBiH until he was seriously wounded. After that, he went for treatment to the USA and stayed to live and work in Boston.

In an interview with the Patria news agency, Dervišević, who is the president of the Congress of Bosniaks of the World (KBS), talks about the activities of this organization, how much the diaspora helps BiH, and what the goals of KBS are.

PATRIA: In July, you held the Days of the Congress of Bosniaks of the World (KBS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. You were elected president of the organization.

DERVIŠević: I should emphasize that 150 KBS delegates elected Ahmet Sejdić as the organization's vice-president. KBS is far from politics and tries to act exclusively as a Bosniak organization that connects the homeland and the diaspora into a unified network. We named our event "Days of the Congress of Bosniaks of the World in BiH, July 11-18, 2016". We symbolically started our activities on July 11th with a visit to the Potočari Memorial Center, and concluded on July 18th with a visit to the Home for Children without Parental Care in Bjelave. Through this, we sent a message to the BiH public that the Congress of Bosniaks of the World does not forget what happened to us, but also does not want future generations to have a victim complex, but rather to move forward in life, towards knowledge and truth, proud, strong, and dignified for who they are. We are not limited in our actions.

At the gathering in Sarajevo, we brought together the greatest Bosniak intellectuals, from Dr. Ferid Muhić to Abdulah Sidran, Dr. Suad Arnautović. We are gathering numerous Bosniak associations from around the world, with the great BiH Association in Australia led by Safet Alispahić by our side. We have Mustafa Hajrić from Germany, Dževad Mešan from Norway, Džemail Hot, Mujko Erović, and Suad Tica from the USA, writer and publicist Nihad Krupić, who represents KBS in the media, and dozens of other respected Bosniaks around the world, who do their jobs exceptionally and are valued in their communities.

We will support and promote publishing activities. This year, we published the first KBS book, "An Overview of the History of Bosnia," by the respected author Prof. Dr. Enver Imamović. We are embarking on numerous projects, including a very significant one in cooperation with academician Abdulah Sidran.

PATRIA: How does KBS operate?

DERVIŠević: We primarily founded the organization to prevent the constant denial of the human rights of the displaced, to stop the divisions of our only homeland, and the injustices that continue to be done to our people and our state. We want Bosnia and Herzegovina to be a normal civic, democratic, independent, and sovereign state. We have only one obligation: to preserve Bosnia and Herzegovina from disappearing. Our ancestors left it to us for safekeeping, and we have pledged to do so. KBS is an organization that advocates for the general development and progress of Bosniaks globally, strengthening national consciousness, and improving the connection and communication of all Bosniak organizations and institutions worldwide with the relevant institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We want to promote and protect the rights and interests of displaced and scattered Bosniaks, and strengthen their position in the countries where they are indigenous, minority peoples. We are a non-profit, non-governmental, non-partisan, and autonomous organization of Bosniaks residing in BiH and around the world. KBS members come from about 22 countries worldwide, and a large portion of our members are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a significant number of KBS board members. Specific projects we have already launched or plan to launch include: Protection and utilization of Bosniak land.

We are working on creating a database of all Bosniak institutions/organizations worldwide that support KBS and wish to collaborate with us. We are working on establishing a global business association. We are actively working to ensure that as many of our citizens in the diaspora as possible participate in elections in BiH and also in all elections in the countries where they live, if they have the right to do so. This has already shown results, as twice as many of our citizens in the diaspora have registered for the October elections in BiH compared to the previous elections. We want to support the return of displaced Bosniaks by supporting businesses. We want to be an inseparable part of BiH's successful future.

PATRIA: Your membership has doubled in a short time. Who are the people joining KBS?

DERVIŠević: We have increased the number of our activities, we are strongly active in the media, and we have established quality cooperation with our academics on some KBS projects. All of this is the reason for the increase in membership in BiH and in other countries around the world, especially in Australia. One of the reasons for the mass growth of KBS is the large number of activists from Canada, Australia, the USA, and Europe, as well as a large number from BiH.

We have a significant number of recipients of the highest wartime recognition, "Golden Lily," among our ranks. The primary goal is for Bosniaks to be well-connected and organized throughout the world and to have a strong connection with their homeland. We want, first and foremost, to cooperate with all organizations similar to us and with activists who advocate for the same or similar goals.

Certainly, more connected organizations can work much more effectively. Through our office in Sarajevo, located at Maršala Tita Street No. 7, and with a significant number of members in BiH, we have created a good prerequisite for stronger connections between our members from the diaspora and the homeland.

PATRIA: How are you connected as an organization?

DERVIŠević: We recently had an extraordinary case where we proved that we can mobilize our entire membership worldwide, from distant Australia to the west coast of North America, in less than 24 hours. We have shown that we can be immediately ready to provide significant support to our homeland and to those whose rights are constantly being threatened.

Our desire is to primarily use this global strength for the good of our homeland and all citizens who live in it and desire coexistence. If there is no coexistence and tolerance in Bosnia, then there will certainly be no good for any citizen living in BiH. We will do everything we can to be a voice of peace and reason, and through our work and activities, to show that we are for coexistence with other peoples and citizens.

We do not want anything for ourselves and our homeland that we would not want for others. However, we will not accept anything less than that, and we are prepared to persevere in our struggle for the rights and equality of all our citizens and for our successful and strong homeland, BiH.

PATRIA: How does KBS interpret the current situation in BiH and the constant attacks on BiH's sovereignty?

DERVIŠević: There is nothing surprising in the constant provocations and attacks on the integrity and sovereignty of BiH. That will never stop. Our one and only response is to preserve a unified and indivisible Bosnia and Herzegovina. And this can be achieved by well-organized and connected citizens of BiH. We are not limited to Bosniaks. Whoever is a patriot is "our person".

Our organization, connection, and readiness to preserve a unified and indivisible Bosnia and Herzegovina at all costs is the only guarantee not only of its survival but also of internal security and equality for all its peoples and citizens. In our struggle to preserve the homeland and the rights of the Bosniak people, we will not and must not ever endanger the rights of other peoples and citizens.

We showed this during the most brutal aggression against our homeland and after the genocide against our people from 1992 to 1995. While Bosniaks were brutally killed and expelled from territories not controlled by the Army of RBiH, and while everything sacred to the Bosniak people was being destroyed, in cities controlled by the Army of RBiH, coexistence was preserved, as were the religious buildings of other religions.

PATRIA: How can the diaspora and your KBS help BiH? What is your influence in the countries where you live?

DERVIŠević: The diaspora already helps the homeland a lot, but this help can be many times greater. Many Bosniaks and Bosnians in the diaspora have acquired significant capital, higher education, and established strong business connections in the countries where they currently live. Most of us are ready to invest part of our capital and knowledge in the economic betterment of our homeland. We are working to connect business people in the homeland with those in the diaspora and to significantly increase the financial contribution of the diaspora through investments and business openings.

In the USA, where a large number of our members live and work, community activists are highly respected, and current politicians value their work and support our communities, contributing through our activists to various projects that benefit our citizens in the diaspora and our homeland.

The influence of our diaspora can best be seen in the USA, where the largest BiH diaspora currently lives, excluding Turkey, which has the largest number of citizens of BiH origin. The American Senate and Congress, as well as the Canadian Parliament, have adopted the Srebrenica Resolution due to the lobbying of activists from our and similar organizations. This year, the governor of Massachusetts, where I currently live, and the state Senate issued a proclamation for BiH's Independence Day.

The next commemoration of BiH's Independence Day will be held in the State House building in Boston with a forum on the topic of economic cooperation between companies from Massachusetts and BiH, in which the Massachusetts Secretariat for Foreign Trade will participate. A large number of American senators and congressmen are members of the Friends of BiH club. Our members were the most numerous NGO organization at the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Dayton, and in the absence of Bosniak politicians at this very important gathering, they were an active voice representing the interests of our state and all citizens who support a sovereign and indivisible BiH.

IN THE USA, A COMPANY IS REGISTERED IN A DAY, WHILE IN BiH IT TAKES SIX MONTHS

PATRIA: So, can the diaspora act in a developmental and investment capacity?

DERVIŠević: I assert that the BiH diaspora is the largest investment potential that can make a huge contribution to the economic development of our homeland. The contribution of the BiH diaspora so far, although significant, is only a small part of its current actual potential. The main reason for this is that from 1995 until today, most of our citizens in the diaspora had to fight for their personal economic existence, and then help their immediate and extended families living in Bosnia.

After 20 years of finding their way, we can conclude that most of our citizens in the diaspora have managed well and possess significant financial resources, education, and other factors I have mentioned, and can now focus on financial assistance to the homeland through business investments. Many of us are in our mid-fifties, we have raised or will soon raise our children to economic independence, and we want to invest part of our capital and knowledge in our homeland. For this to begin happening, changes in domestic laws are necessary.

There is no need to invent anything; one only needs to look at the examples in economically successful and developed countries. I will give the example of the USA and my personal experience: in the USA, I can register a company in one day, while in Bosnia, due to administrative complications, obtaining documentation, etc., it took me a full 6 months for the same thing. I know this because I registered a company in 2005. I came with a certain capital that I was ready to invest, over time, and ready to take risks. Instead of completing the registration in a reasonable period and investing resources and energy in the things for which the company was founded, I spent them on countless administrative procedures. This must change.

YOU CAN'T GET ANYTHING IF YOU AREN'T WILLING TO FIGHT FOR IT

PATRIA: Finally, what message would you like to send to the homeland and the diaspora?

DERVIŠević: History has shown us that nothing can be gained if one is not willing to fight for it, and by that, I do not mean armed struggle, but every other form of political struggle for rights and equality. In order to make a significant contribution to protecting the integrity of our homeland and the rights of Bosniaks everywhere in the world, we must first invest in ourselves; we must be economically independent, educated, and possess moral and healthy personalities.

The Congress of Bosniaks of the World is an institution that we must build and strengthen, because without strengthening the ties between the homeland and the diaspora, it will be difficult to fight for what is sacred to all of us, which is a unified and indivisible Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are a small nation, but we will be great and powerful if we stick together, both at home and in the diaspora.