Renewed fighting in Bosnia & Herzegovina led to the decision that it was too dangerous for a contingent from Bosnia & Herzegovina to travel to the World Jamboree, held in the Netherlands, 2-12 August. The Scouts of Bosnia sent the following message to the 25,000 participants:
Dear friends,
Cruel realities of war have prevented us from being together today and in the next days. For 40 months the war has been ravaging our homeland. Both adults and children have been killed every day. 16,814 children have been killed and 34,555 wounded in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and many of them remain maimed for life. The number of orphaned children has also grown enormously. Among them are many of our members.
Schools and libraries in Bosnia and Herzegovina were burnt; there are no more parks for children to play in; our favourite excursion sites are now strewn with mines and unexploded shells. Many have not even their homes, which were burnt together with their toys and their memories.
In the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina many Scout centres were devastated, equipment destroyed, Scouting symbols going back for more than half a century demolished. But we did not lose heart. Wherever we could, we helped our peers, but also our elders. In the gloom of cold shelters we are still playing Scout games and learning Scout skills. We had an earnest desire to show these skills at the Jamboree, to play and make friends.
Scout ranks in Bosnia and Herzegovina include the young people of all nations; Croats, Muslims and Serbs. We hate no-one on account of his or her ethnic origins. What matters is that he or she is not evil. We have not violated the Scout principles laid down by our Movement’s Founder, Lord Robert Baden-Powell. But these and all other principles of civilised life have been trampled by the evil which is tearing down our country.
We wish you a very nice time at the Jamboree and pleasant memories to take home, to share with your families and friends. We shall be glad if only once in the course of the Jamboree you all turn your thoughts to us, and pray for us, for an end to this horror, and to wish us to meet at the next Jamboree. Convey these wishes to your parents. They also can help to put an end to the evil in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a small but proud country, internationally recognised and respected by many friends. We Scouts of Bosnia and Herzegovina believe that you too are our friends. Do not forget this.
Yours in Scouting, Scouts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 30 July 1995
From Eurofax No 35 (August 1995). Eurofax is the newsletter of the
European Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
It is published monthly by the European Scout Office. E-Mail: rsaunders@euroscout.knooppunt.be
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of Scouting in Eastern Europe: Bosnia & Herzegovina.