News item | 18-06-2022 | 15:30
“The maddening powerlessness of not being able to do what you once became a soldier for. Protecting people, defending our democratic constitutional state. That feeling of being cut off from the outside world, abandoned by everything and everyone. And also the easy reproaches afterwards, from critics who themselves were high and dry in the safe Netherlands. So yes, I understand that question very well: where was the world?” That is what Prime Minister Mark Rutte said today to approximately 350 veterans of Dutchbat III.
Almost 27 years after the fall of Srebrenica, they were in Schaarsbergen to catch up, reminisce and support each other in the face of much unprocessed suffering. Suffered because they were sometimes held responsible for the genocide carried out by the Bosnian Serbs led by Mladić.
World failed
The answer to ‘Where was the world?’ stayed out.
Rutte: “It immediately confronts us with the horrible fate of the more than 8,000 boys and men who were murdered in cold blood after the fall of Srebrenica. Where was the international community when they needed protection? The answer remains poignant and hard-hitting. The world failed in a terrible way.”
Heartbreaking Choices
For many veterans, Srebrenica is still not a past tense, Rutte knows.
Rutte: “The lack of recognition is still felt every day. Recognition for the fact that the mandate, equipment and military support were inadequate during the deployment. That you were sent on an assignment that gradually proved unfeasible. While at a certain point even the most basic necessities of life were lacking in the compound.”
unequal struggle
Minister of Defense Kajsa Ollongren was also not indifferent about the situation at the time.
Ollongren: “And when the attack came, and the requested help was not forthcoming, you were faced with an unequal battle in Srebrenica. A handful of armored vehicles with machine guns, against a superior force of tanks and artillery. Meanwhile 55 of you have been held hostage by the Bosnian Serbs. And after thousands of Bosnian men and boys went into the mountains, you and a few hundred soldiers took in tens of thousands of terrified people. You were on your own. It became a humanitarian disaster of unprecedented proportions.”
Rutte also mentioned that, once home, there was little understanding for the impossible position of Dutchbat III and the heartbreaking choices that the military had to make in the chaos of the moment, often in a split second.
Rutte: “And there was not enough support from the political and defense leadership, when a shower of unjustified criticism quickly descended on Dutchbat from all sorts of nooks and crannies.”
turned their backs
Ollongren also shares the opinion that the Netherlands turned its back on the soldiers of Dutchbat III.
Ollongren: “For too long your experiences have not been acknowledged. Also – perhaps precisely – not by the Ministry of Defense. You have been heard, but you have not been listened to. There was too little aftercare, too little support and too little response in the imaging. Not for you and not for your home front. That left deep marks. Many of you are still dealing with the consequences of the UN mission today. A lasting shadow hangs over many lives.”
Unjustly in the dock
According to Rutte, almost 27 years later, some words have still not been spoken.
Rutte: “It is true, and has often been said, that the Srebrenica mission took place under a UN mandate. But that does not detract from the special responsibility of the Dutch state. For the circumstances under which you were sent out, for the reception after your return and for the lack of support when Dutchbat III wrongly ended up in the dock.”
Apologies and appreciation
Rutte continued: “Today I apologize on behalf of the Dutch government to all the women and men of Dutchbat III. To you and to the people who are not here today. With the greatest possible appreciation for the way in which Dutchbat III has always tried to do the right thing under difficult circumstances, even when that was no longer possible.”
To reinforce this message, Ollongren presented every Dutchbat III veteran with the Defense Medal for Merit in bronze.
Today’s meeting is a result of previous recommendations by the Borstlap Committee on care, recognition and appreciation for Dutchbat III veterans. The committee issued its recommendations after an ARQ investigation into this group. Defense reported last year that it would adopt the recommendations†