Death on the Drina: 22nd March 1942

More than 80 years on from the death of over 6000 Serbs in and around the Drina, why does this river continue to constitute the end of the road for those who simply want to find safety? 

Content warning: this blog contains discussion of death and sexual violence. 

The Drina River is a unique natural resource that makes up a large part of the Serbia-Bosnia border. The river flows through three national parks, giving life to a variety of plants and animals. Its unique green colour attracts visitors who swim, sail, and play along its stretch. Throughout history, it has marked the divide between the Eastern and Western Roman empires, between Serbia and Austria-Hungary and today establishes the border between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

The 22nd of March marked 83 years since over 6000 Serbs were murdered on the banks of the Drina by the fascist Ustasha regime in the Nazi-puppet Independent State of Croatia (NDH).Thousands of Serb civilians were trying to flee the Ustasha offensive when they were brutally attacked and murdered. Many of the women were raped.

Almost a century later, this river continues to be the site of the deaths of many people seeking safety. In August 2024, 12 people died trying to cross the Drina after their small boat capsized. This included Lana, a 9-month-old baby girl, and both her parents, Ahmed Ibrahim Hilala and Khadija Najib Shaaban. They had escaped the dangerous situation in their home country of Syria in search of a safer life for their young family when the boat, holding around 30 people, collapsed. 

This was one of several incidents of people losing their lives in failed attempts to cross the river, with at least 40 people on the move having lost their lives trying to cross the river in the last 10 years. Those who carry out rescue missions often don’t know how many people they are searching for, making it an impossible task. 

As well as those identified, due to the circumstances of perishing in this way, many people’s bodies are never recovered, presumed to be drowned but without the dignity of being properly identified or put to rest. This means the identities of those who die trying to cross the river are sometimes lost forever. Loved ones of those who move across Europe face the devastating reality of not knowing if their family members are safe and never being able to properly grieve their deaths. Many bodies recovered from the river end up buried in unmarked graves, which is the devastating reality for many people on the move who die along their path. This provides an inhumane culmination of the dehumanisation practices that face them from the start. 

People on the move try to swim or use small inflatables - plastic toys designed for children to play with - to try and cross the river which can reach ferocious speeds and depths. Many who try to cross are not strong swimmers and can easily be swept away or face the danger of the deep canyons of the river. 

The brutal events of 1942 and the tragedies which continue to happen today have more than their location in common. Aside from these events taking place around the Drina River, they have also been subjected to obscurity. Until relatively recently, the 1942 event was wiped from history, its mention being entirely forbidden during the communist rule. The horrifying event and its victims were only given recognition relatively recently. In 2019, a sculpture erected in their memory put an end to the decades during which their suffering and the brutality enacted against them was - both passively and deliberately - overlooked. This retrospective recognition of the brutality can serve as a lesson that too often tragedies that occur in front of us are ignored or forgotten.

The victims of atrocities caused by the cruelty of border policies and those who enforce them are often forgotten, ignored or deliberately disregarded. The multifaceted situations leading to millions having to flee due to persecution, conflict and instability morphs into a ‘crisis’ to be dealt with politically. We forget the millions of men, women, children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sons, daughters that suffer the consequences of being born in the “wrong place”.

As we remember the thousands of victims of this brutal event 80 years ago, we must acknowledge the deaths that continue to take place in and around this river, which marks the end of the line to so many of those simply seeking safety. These deaths are avoidable consequences of political choices made by those prioritising security and national interests over ensuring the safety of thousands of people. 

The tightening of borders, increased surveillance, expansive use of illegal pushbacks and violence reported along borders reflects the wider trend of the growing hostility across Europe. The turbulent political situation seeing far-right parties gain ground across the continent makes another eerie parallel to be drawn with events of 1942 which took place against a backdrop of fascism and intolerance.

We’ll be sharing further perspectives from this river and its history over the course of the next few months, including reflections from our team on the ground in Bosnia and Herzegovina