ETHNIC CLEANSING - TUZLA [Main Title]
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- Title: ETHNIC CLEANSING - TUZLA [Main Title]
- Film Number: UNT 454
- Other titles: UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
- Summary: UNTV reports on the situation in the Tuzla region of Bosnia-Herzegovina, where UNHCR and ICRC are finding it hard to cope with the ever-increasing numbers of refugees who have been forced from their homes in the Bjeljina region by Bosnian Serbs.
- Description: Background image of a map of Eastern Bosnia. Scrolling text: “I am deeply concerned by reports over the past several days of the continued mass expulsion of people from the Bosnian Serb controlled areas of Bijeljina and Banja Luka. I strongly condemn these extremely serious violations of international humanitarian law and universally recognised principles of human rights.” 5 September 1994 Yasushi Akashi Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Former Yugoslavia. Aerial view of Bosnian countryside and the town of Tuzla. Over the past two of years of war in Bosnia-Herzegovina almost 240,000 pre-dominantly Muslim refugees were pushed out of Serb-controlled territory into the Tuzla region by Serbs in what has been condemned by the international community as “ethnic cleansing”. Streets scenes of Tuzla. The town itself has absorbed 60-70,000 refugees from the towns of Zvornik, Loznica, Srebrenica, Bratunac, Britčko and Doboj. Shots of people boarding a bus. Since July a further 3,200 Muslims and Croatians have recently arrived in Tuzla. A man, going through a list, explains that a group of 580 people arrived on September 1st and further groups arrived during that month in three or four day cycles. Shots of refugees sitting outside on the grass and in the university’s sports hall, where most spend their first few nights. Interview with a local official. She says that these refugees have nothing to wash with and that they are in poor health. Interview with Kenneth Biser, Senior Civil Affairs Co-ordinator for UNPROFOR. He says that they have enough cases to show that “ethnic cleansing” is being carried out, that these people are being pushed from their homes but as far as they know the “cleansing” has not taken the form of widespread physical violence. Instead people are being intimidated into leaving their homes. He says “they are offered the chance to buy their way to freedom”. Shots of refugees, a mother and child, boys. One woman says that from 12.30 to 3am they were gathering people and “throwing them into the trucks like livestock”. She says that they were told “it’s better to go by truck than to be carried off by the Drina”. She says that those without sufficient money were left in the camp. Shots of refugees tending fires, at the side of a river, by a row of unfinished houses. Major Tony Puckett, Civil Military Information Officer for UNPROFOR, elaborates. He says that paramilitary units knock on doors, tell residents to pack their bags and force them to hand over money to pay for their transportation to the confrontation lines where they are picked up by Bosnian civilian officials. Shots of hundreds of refugees disembarking from buses and walking in the dark. Young children are carried on the shoulders of parents. Others hold hands. These are some of the 598 Bjeljina refugees that were driven across the confrontation line by Bosnian Serbs at Babina Luka, near Tuzla on the 9th of September. UNPROFOR and ICRC jeeps pull up beside the buses. Remo Tamburlin, ICRC Delegate, says that they decided to drive their armoured vehicles to the confrontation line to pick up these people and take them to the outpatient clinic set up after the first refugees arrived. He explains that two of these armoured vehicles came under fire and so, after loading them quickly, they drove away from the confrontation line and called on the help of UNPROFOR, who picked up the remaining refugees in APCs. Footage of the ICRC jeeps in the dark, the sound of guns being fired and the arrival of UNPROFOR APCs. Panning shot of the sports centre at Tuzla, full of refugees who arrived the night before. Shot of an old woman, weeping next to her suitcase. She says that she was beaten for refusing to board the deportation trucks. Esma Ibrisimović, Head of the Tuzla Displaced Persons Centre, explains that in that town alone, displaced persons have been placed in about twenty schools and students’ dormitories. In this way, 12,500 people have been accommodated. The rest have been placed in individual accommodation. Shot of a crowded bus and coaches in the centre of town. Shots of refugees who have been temporarily housed at the Lukavac School, eight kilometres from Tuzla. Accommodation like this has inadequate sanitation and cramped living conditions. Interview with refugees who narrate their experiences. One man says that they had to pay 200 DM to be transported. The price was higher for men of military age. Another man says that he paid 5000 DM. They are resentful towards foreign TV crews and peacekeepers that did not come to investigate what was going on. Two new housing projects have been completed in Tuzla. Those refugees who have been granted a place here are considered lucky. A woman looks out of the window, above washing hanging out to dry. These houses were donated by UNHCR, sponsored by the Swedish International Development Authority and are managed by the Norwegian’s People’s Aid. Shots of flags hanging from the buildings. Chairs are set out in rows for the official opening of the project. Shots of the Swedish Ambassador and Selim Bešlagić, the Mayor of Tuzla who attended the opening ceremony of the centre on the 12th of September. Even here, refugees live twenty people to a room and the need for permanent accommodation remains acute. Jose Alvin Gonzager, UNHCR Protection Officer, says ideally in the future these people will be able to get jobs and live in their own houses but it is unclear when that will be. Interview with Nicholas Morris, UN Special Envoy to Former Yugoslavia, who comments that the international community has not done enough to protect these people and their homes. Shots of UNHCR trucks. With winter approaching, the priority for UNHCR is to deliver aid to 650,000 people in the Tuzla region even though aid routes are sometimes unsafe and the airport comes under unpredictable shellfire. Closing shot of the streets of Tuzla.
- Alternative Title: UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
- Colour: English (Tape Code A)
- Digitised:
- Object_Number: UNT 454
- Sound: Croatian (Tape Code C)
- Access Conditions:
- Featured Period: 1990-2000
- Production Date: 1994-09 1994-09-16
- Production Country: UN
- Production Details: Stamkoski, George (Production individual)
- Personalities, Units and Organisations: Morris, Nicholas (person) Bešlagić, Selim (person)
- Keywords: Bosnia-Herzegovina & Tuzla (geography)
- Physical Characteristics: Colour format: English (Tape Code A) Sound format: Croatian (Tape Code C) Soundtrack language: Serbian (Tape D)
- Technical Details: Format: Beta-SP Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Running time: 8 mins 50 secs
- HD Media:
- Link to IWM Collections page:
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Related IWM Collections Objects:
UNT 461 (UNTV PROGRAMME NO 15 [Main Title]) UNT 454 X (ETHNIC CLEANSING - TUZLA (UNEDITED RUSHES) [Allocated Title])