9 July 2025

The East London Mosque (ELM), with the support of the Muslim Council of Britain, opened its doors yesterday to host a solemn, stirring commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, one of the darkest chapters in modern European history. Survivors, faith leaders, human rights advocates, and scholars gathered to remember the over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys killed in July 1995 and to reflect on the enduring legacy of Islamophobia, dehumanisation, and genocide denial.

The event, hosted by Junaid Ahmed, CEO of ELM, set a tone of urgent remembrance and moral reckoning.

“Marking three decades of the Srebrenica genocide is a reminder of the deadly consequences of hatred, Islamophobia, and silence,” he said. “‘Never again’ must be more than words. It must be a duty we pass on to generations.” 

A special video message was shared from Osman Topčagić, the Bosnian Ambassador to the UK, who emphasised the importance of remembrance in healing.

Ambassador Topčagić’s video can be found at: https://youtu.be/iBS6cDRC-WA

The Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Shaykh Husein ef. Kavazović, also delivered a moving video message, reflecting on the journey “from tragedy to rebuilding”. 

Shaykh Kavazović expressed his gratitude to the UK government for supporting the UN resolution recognising the Srebrenica genocide and thanked ELM for its continued role in remembrance. 

His video can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/live/nsJKrmGfJkY?si=WDvVfbXCwp_k48WU&t=654

Imam Mersad Krnjić, former Imam of the Bosnian community in Birmingham, offered a powerful reflection on Bosnia’s legacy of coexistence, recalling how Jews expelled from Spain were welcomed and given equal status, and how during the war the Bosnian government took steps to repair Orthodox churches damaged by shelling. “While Bosnian Muslims guarded churches, mosques on the Serbian and Croatian sides were destroyed,” he said. “Bosnian Muslims never set up concentration camps. Let anyone who calls Muslims violent go to Bosnia and see who we truly are.”

Imam Mersad Krnjić's address can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/live/nsJKrmGfJkY?si=zDk2PVAQJhTo7tp3&t=2123

They didn’t just kill over 8,000 people — they tried to hide what they had done.

Kathryne Bomberger, Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP)

Speaking from Srebrenica, Kathryne Bomberger, Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), stood as the voice for the tens of thousands still unaccounted for. With over 40,000 people reported missing, her work has been vital in seeking truth and justice for survivors. But the task was made more harrowing, Bomberger explained, by the perpetrators’ systematic efforts not only to commit genocide, but to erase all trace of their crimes. 

“They didn’t just kill over 8,000 people – they tried to hide what they had done,” said Bomberger. Bodies were disarticulated and scattered across multiple sites, with some individuals found in as many as five different locations. Despite this, ICMP has identified more than 90 percent of those uncovered. Her team is now working on a strategic white paper for Gaza, drawing on lessons from the Bosnia genocide.

Kathryne Bomberger’s address can be found at:  https://www.youtube.com/live/nsJKrmGfJkY?si=DZczlPakMS9DeX1D&t=868

Dr Mohammed Wajid Akhter, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain delivered a blistering call to action. “Genocide is not over,” he said. “It’s not over for the mothers still searching for their sons, for the children born of rape, for the widows. I grew up watching genocide, now my children are witnessing another in Gaza.” 

Dr Akhter's address can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/live/nsJKrmGfJkY?si=kJ9jmQuKc_6tcFMM&t=300

Genocide is not an event, it’s a process.

Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust

Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust expanded on the ideological mechanisms that lead to such horrors. “Genocide is not an event, it’s a process. The hatred that led to the genocide in Bosnia was manufactured over time, just as it is now with the dehumanisation of Palestinians.” She drew a link between global Islamophobia and the systemic violence against Palestinians: “You cannot divorce the horror of Gaza from what is happening to Muslims. Islamophobia in the UK cannot be separated from Gaza.”

Shabna Begum's address can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/live/nsJKrmGfJkY?si=WZlfcM_joWvEuKA5&t=2908

Bosnian Muslims were killed because they were Muslims. We must not dilute that truth.

Dr Abdullah Faliq, Trustee of the East London Mosque Trust

Closing the speaker lineup, Dr Abdullah Faliq, one of the trustees of ELM and someone who has been leading campaigns for the victims of Srebrenica for 25 years, reflected on the enduring dangers of forgetting or downplaying atrocities. “Bosnian Muslims were killed because they were Muslims. We must not dilute that truth,” he warned. He explained that denial is not just a failure to acknowledge the past, it is the final stage in the ten stages of genocide, a process that begins with classification and dehumanisation and ends with erasing the crime itself.

Dr Faliq's address can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/live/nsJKrmGfJkY?si=SznhmYAlfS9VQFlj&t=3790