FEMYSO calls for international action to secure sustainable peace in Bosnia & Herzegovina

As the voice of Muslim Youth in Europe we call for immediate action to avoid grave consequences in Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH).

As an organisation we find it a complete dereliction of duty that numerous governments and multilateral institutions have remained silent in response to recent actions taken by Republika Srpska to cause division and escalate tensions in BiH.

The Dayton agreement signed in December 1995 provided a basis for all actors in Bosnia & Herzegovina to operate in a manner which prioritised peace. However, Republika Srpska officials are actively undermining the agreement, stoking tensions in order to meet their ambitions for a mono-ethnic state.

FEMYSO President Hande Taner said “FEMYSO is mandated by our Member Organisations to commemorate Srebrenica every single year, having spoken to local voices in BiH, we are deeply concerned that Europe is sleepwalking into another situation which could see a repeat of this devastating event which saw 100.000 perish and 1.1 million displaced only a few decades ago.”

FEMYSO echoes demands from Bosnian civil society and calls for the following actions from European leaders:

– Punish Milorad Dodik and his partners for violating the Dayton Agreement;
– Actively support actors who work on a multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina;
– Avoid language that equates the actions of aggressors to the victims of said aggression;
– Take all necessary actions to prevent a conflict that would inevitably spill over to other countries in the Balkans and in the wider region.

FEMYSO remains committed and stands with all who call for peace in our region, and denounce all those that seek to divide and destroy our societies with their poisonous language and actions.

END

Notes:   

  1. FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 33 Muslim youth and student organisations across 20 European countries, and is the leading voice for European Muslim youth, developing and empowering them, and working to build a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe.    
  2. For more media-related information or requests please email media@femyso.org.

Anti-Racism Action Plan (ARAP): 1-Year Anniversary Manifesto

It’s been a year since #BLM (Black Lives Matter) protests were successful in pushing the EU to create an EU Anti-Racism Action Plan. To truly start tackling racism over the next year, over 40 organisations have got solutions. We hope to work constructively with the European Commission to deliver change!

Rather than being protected by police, many racialised communities are victims of racist policing and violence.  The families of Stanislav Tomas, Adil or Ousman Sey are still waiting for justice, as are many more. We’re calling on the Commission to put an end to police brutality, discrimination and violence by extending the Race Equality Directive (RED) to cover law enforcement.

As President von der Leyen stated last year, it is time “to build a truly anti-racist Union – that goes from condemnation to action.” The Commission has promised to ensure that all Member States put forward National Action Plans Against Racism (NAPARs). With COVID-19 devastating our communities in some of the worst ways, we’re calling for these action plans to be finalised, and delivered by 2022. 

It’s time racial justice is mainstreamed in ALL policy areas. Racism does not happen in a vacuum. It’s structural. Let’s include racial justice in climate, digital, economic, education, employment, foreign, defence, gender, migration and security policy. With the increased targeting, arrests and outright banning of anti-racism activists and organisations across Europe, we’re calling on the European Commission to closely scrutinise developments in the Member States and provide concrete support for anti-racist human rights defenders and organisations at risk.

We’re calling for the EU Coordinator on Anti-Racism to work together with civil society in the organisation of the EU Anti-Racism Summit under the French Presidency in March 2022 and to ensure a dynamic and interactive meeting with a focus on structural racism, as well as high-level participation including the President of the Commission and Heads of States.

We want to see the EU Coordinator on Anti-Racism ensure meaningful and regular dialogue between the European Commission and civil society organisations led by racialised groups, communities and organisations.

Finally, it’s time that racialised people are properly represented in the EU institutions and agencies. 

We’re calling on the relevant bodies of the various institutions to put forward its proposals on creating a safe positive environment and strategy that will increase the representation of racialised people and others from underrepresented communities. 

 

To read the manifesto and see the list of civil society organisations, go here.

 

This statement is in cooperation with ENAR (European Network Against Racism), Equinox (Initiative for Racial Justice) and ERGO Network (European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network).