Aid Memoir. Larry Hollingworth

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СКАЧАТЬ ensured we wasted no time; we were off to a strong start. The Commissioner began—The Srpska Republika Government has set up this depot in coordination with the Serbian charity Dobrotvor, the Red Cross and UNHCR to supply aid to the municipalities and to stop its manipulation. He then added an important line—This is a civilian task. It has nothing to do with the Army.

      He beamed as I nodded approval. Ljerka then took the floor—We would like a delivery of aid every two days, we are feeding 200,000 dependents. Forty-five per cent are refugees, women and children. Very professional. Then from Mr. Vladusic came a very sharp question, asked with no emphasis—What is the population of Sarajevo at the moment Mr. Larry? Nice one. I thought.

      – I think they are talking about 340,000.

      – Then we should get two thirds of what they get.

      – I am not into numbers yet. I see the parallels and I see the tangents. Sarajevo is of course surrounded, besieged. You have access to rolling plains, open fields, woods, farms. So not all of your people are entirely dependent on what the agencies bring in. Sarajevo is.

      – Why do you say Sarajevo is besieged?—Ljerka again.

      – Because the roads to it are blocked by you.

      – We have opened the airport and a road for you. Also, we have said that if the people want to leave, they can do so.

      Both statements are true, but it is a Bosnian truth. The road was not open to commercial traffic and the airport would never bring in enough to satisfy the total needs of a city. As to her “also,” right again. The Serb side were very keen on opening the road out of Sarajevo and permitting the whole population to leave. The Sarajevo Government and UNHCR called this “ethnic cleansing.” Sarajevans have the right to live in their own homes in Sarajevo. I went onto the offensive—The removal of the rightful inhabitants of the city is not an option, nor is ‘Stay and starve and be shelled’ an option.

      Ljerka ignored this comment. I then carefully and naively explained how I, a recent arrival, saw the situation. Emphasising how the Serbs were receiving a bad press for actions they could put right immediately. They were very polite and patient. Mr. Vladusic and I were to become good friends. I found him always to be fair and honest and professionally cunning.

      I returned to the airport wiser.

      A few days later we did bring in the first road convoy. It came from Split in Croatia. A team of British drivers pioneered the route. They were funded by the Overseas Development Administration (ODA). They were recruited and led by John Foster who is the Emergency Planning Officer for the Isle of Man Government who was on loan to ODA. Amongst his drivers was the colourful Peter Milne who arrived wearing his kilt. A character who later helped me to get into Tesanj and Maglaj.

      The first deliveries into the city were for those people living in the Bosnian Government dominated area of the city. We were aware of the fact that the district of Grbavica was in Serb held territory and that it had a large population of starving people. Furthermore, it could not be reached by the Serbs themselves from Rajlovac.

      I first spoke to Professor Kljic. He agreed that Grbavica needed aid. Painfully he told me that it was the area of the city where he had lived before the war. He had never had any trouble with his neighbours. He certainly felt it right and just that they should receive their share of the aid. This was a good start. He talked to his masters. They agreed. We therefore had approval to take aid out of the city into the Serb territory. We then approached the Serb side via the liaison officers. We agreed a date for a convoy. The Canadians agreed to escort it. It was to be UNHCR vehicles with UNHCR local drivers. At the last minute, the Serbs vetoed this; they would not permit Muslims into their territory. I should have given them an ultimatum—Aid food, aid drivers. My Bosnians were prepared to go. But I compromised, which I regret. So we had to borrow drivers from the Canadians.

      It was a short trip, and we ended up only a few yards from where we had begun, but on the other side of the river. The organisation for our reception was chaotic. There was a lot of sniper fire from the Bosnian government side. They had approved the convoy but could not resist the chance of taking shots at the reception committee. No one seemed to know where we were going to unload. If in doubt, slivovica out. They plied us with offers of drink whilst they found the location and the keys. Meanwhile, we are parked out in the open with sniper fire only a few metres away. The man with most initiative was a small, feisty priest, Father Vojislav Carkic. He ran the local Serb charity, was a parish priest, and a military chaplain. He did a little shouting and a shell damaged supermarket was opened. Then came the next crisis, there was no enthusiasm to unload. More words from the priest and a group of men were found. I forbade the Canadians from unloading. It was not a precedent I wished to begin. The recipients of the aid must unload. It is difficult to restrain soldiers especially when they, rightly, want to dump and run in the face of sniper fire.

      I had been asked by Professor Klaic if I could see if his precious books were still safe in his flat. I was assured that they were not. With a shortage of electricity, gas, wood, or oil for kitchen stoves, thick, heavy, economics books were especially useful. As we were leaving, Father Carkic gave me a holy picture. I will give you a different one every time you bring aid. We have started off with the apostles. We need eleven more convoys for you to have your first set. His toothless mouth stretched into a wide grin. His companions laughed.

      With the success of Grbavica, Fabrizio was determined to spread our sphere of influence even further. Dobrinja is a large suburb of Sarajevo very close to the airport. It was cut off from the city, but under the influence of the Bosnian Government. The majority population are Muslim. Fabrizio decided to take aid to Dobrinja. Citing the Grbavica convoy as a precedent, he got Serb approval but took no chances. He took in a small convoy with a one hundred strong Canadian escort. It was successful. The irony of the day was that we succeeded in feeding Dobrinja but failed to get a single convoy into Sarajevo itself. “Somebody” shelled the Canadian barracks.

      That evening, Eric de Stabenrath, the French Colonel, came to see me. He was impressed with the convoy to Dobrinja but believed that the key to our safety in the airport was for the combatants on all sides of the airport to see us and to know us and to know that we are impartial. He therefore proposed a “Hearts and Minds” programme. He intended to nominate a Liaison Officer for the peripheral districts of Nedzarici and the Airport Settlements held by the Serbs, and Dobrinja and Butmir held by the Government. The LOs would go into their territory every day and build up a close relationship with the community and its leaders.

      – If they go in, why don’t they take in aid?—asked Eric.

      – Eric, this is music to our ears. We will find the aid. Good luck in getting the approval of the local commanders. He succeeded and thus began a brilliant and vital programme.

      Fabrizio was working non-stop on organising a convoy to Gorazde. Suddenly it seemed to fall into place. The Serbs agreed to give him approval to try, UNPROFOR agreed to provide an escort, UNHCR found the trucks and we diverted the aid from Sarajevo. Fabrizio was exhausted before he left. He had put so much effort into the convoy. Una Sekerez was the interpreter, Major Vanessa Lloyd of the British Royal Army Medical Corps and Sir Donald Acheson of World Health Organisation accompanied it.

      It was a gallant attempt. It was mined, it came under fire, it almost reached Gorazde. It lost one APC and one ten-tonne truck. But it failed. On its return journey back to Sarajevo it encountered more gunfire. The team returned safely but some were badly shaken and Una had been lightly wounded.

      I stayed behind and followed the progress of the convoy from the operations room. When they returned, I met them at СКАЧАТЬ