Jamie McGrigor, Highlands & Islands MSP and the Scottish Conservative External Affairs Spokesman, this evening spoke in a debate in the Scottish Parliament on remembering the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. The debate was secured and led by Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP.Speaking in the debate this evening Jamie said:“For some years now I have been acquainted with Samir Mehanovic, a film maker and a Bosnian Muslim who has made his home in Edinburgh. Samir came as a political refugee from the war in 1995 from his home town of Tuzla which is where most of the refugees from Srebrenica fled to. To his great credit he worked his way through film school, achieving an MA and a BAFTA. I have seen his previous work which confirms both his talents as a film maker and his sincerity as a man. Samir has produced a new film called “Srebrenica Survivors” which will be broadcast on the 11th of July on BBC World and Newsnight to mark the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, the only holocaust in Europe since World War 2, which killed 8372 Bosnian men and boys within a week. The film is the testimony of the survivors who struggled to cope with ghastly experiences. For example Mehmed Hodzik who lost over 67 relatives or Zinahida who was only 13 when she lost her 5 brothers and both parents. Ahmed was 20 when forced to make a 5 day march in the column of death with 8000 men of which only 3000 survived. Hatidza and the other civilians sought protection in the UN base at Potocari which was under the UN Dutch battalion who lost control to Serb troops led by Ratko Mladic who then killed and tortured. Hatidza lost two sons, her husband and over 200 of her extended family. The characters of the film are struggling, not only with the loss of family but literally to subsist in a world where they feel forgotten and where many of the perpetrators not only walk free but hold positions of authority.“ Samir says: ‘When I started making this film I felt that I opened deep wounds hidden somewhere inside me. While I was filming interviews and my characters were telling their stories tears were rolling down my face.‘ How can a human do this to another human? This is a question that has perplexed me even further while editing the interviews and listening to those stories again and again. Each time I felt as if fresh wounds were opening and new emotions pouring out.‘ The characters in this film are also having to deal with the impact of social deprivation in the Tuzla suburbs. They struggle to subsist without welfare in a country where unemployment levels are over 60%. Most have no place to return to in Srebrenica. They are striving to build a new life but they are haunted by their past experience, and have little hope for the future because of the promises that have been broken by the Bosnian government and the international community. However I am grateful to find support in my new country of Scotland in making this film.’ The trailer for this film can be viewed at www.srebrenicasurvivorsfilm.com“ Fellow members, one reason I entered politics was to promote fairness and humanity. I was born in 1949 only 4 years after the end of the Second World War with parents who installed in me the absolute horror of the carnage which had killed their own relatives and friends and also inflicted almost unbelievable and inhuman genocide, torture and humiliation on literally millions of fellow Europeans. This was perpetuated by Hitler and other Nazi war criminals. Many of them were brought to justice at Nuremberg and other courts which of course could never mend the results of their awful crimes. But as Samir says, where is justice when many of the perpetrators from Bosnia remain at large? The international community failed to protect civilians during the Bosnian war. The UN voted for resolution 819 that promised that civilians would be protected and aid would be supplied; sadly this promise fell short of its mark. “ If we in this Parliament by highlighting this issue in this member’s debate can help even a little in securing justice and helping the victims of Srebrenica then something of value will have been achieved.”