UTICA, NY — The Bosnian American Community Association (BACA) of Utica hosted White Armband Day at Utica City Hall on Saturday.
Those in attendance wore white ribbons tied around their arms to serve as a solemn reminder of the events that began on May 31, 1992, in the Prijedor municipality of Bosnia.
All non-Serbs were ordered to display white linens on their homes and wear white armbands when leaving their homes. This was the beginning of the campaign to exterminate the non-Serb population. It resulted in the ethnic cleansing of 94% of the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat population from the Prijedor municipality.
“We hope this never happens again. We hope. After events like what happened in World War II, we said never again, but it did happen again. We would like to remind people that these atrocities can happen, and unfortunately, I believe that they will happen sometime in the future, somewhere in the world,” said Sandro Sehic, a spokesman for BACA.
White Armband Day serves as a symbol of remembrance, resistance to genocide, and a call to action for peace and unity.
The Utica Bosnian community remembers the atrocities that occurred during the Bosnian War