THE SHADOW OF CLEANSING

Words,Pictures Tom Stoddart
Saturday 12 August 1995 18:02 EDT
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Between the time when these photographs were taken, among the Muslim refugees driven by the Serbs from Srebrenica, and the time, less than two weeks later, when you see them, Srebrenica has been forgotten. Events in former Yugoslavia have moved too fast - and our attention-span is, in any case, too short. Yet Srebrenica's rape should never be forgotten. Reports from the so-called "safe haven" are still patchy, but it seems clear that, after the women and children were expelled, something truly terrible happened there. Up to 7,000 men of fighting age are missing, presumed massacred.

The photograph on the front cover shows the joy of a boy whose father escaped from the enclave and rejoined him in the UN refugee camp at Tuzla airbase. To us, the boy's smile seems absolutely natural; in Tuzla's camps, he is a freak. Most children there will never see their fathers again.

As events in the Balkans gain momentum, history - of the nastiest kind - is in the making. One day the war must end. But, looking into the eyes of these women and children, it is hard to imagine them or their land ever being at peace

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