The effects the Bosnian war (1992-1995) had on children.

Essay by lemonadefreak3 April 2003

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Lost Children of Bosnia

Imagine a 10-year-old girl falling asleep to gunshots and waking up to the thud of a violent grenade. She risks her life on a daily basis just to fetch food and water, always fearful to go outside. She does not know what is going on and this makes her even more terrified. After enduring this everyday for years, she discovers her father died in the ongoing war and her family must leave the home they once cherished. This is a typical adolescence for a child living through the Bosnian War of 1992-1995. Some were blessed and did not lose their parents, and some were killed. Over 15,000 children were killed during the Bosnian Civil War of the 1990's, 45,000 children lost at least one parent and tens of thousands lost relatives or friends. (Raymond 13). The war was between the Croats, Serbs and Muslims of Bosnia and Croatia.

The Serbs, led by Slobodan Milosevic, unsuccessfully tried to ethnically cleanse Croats and Muslims out of Bosnia and Croatia (13). "Ethnic cleansing is a term defined as the ruthless attempt by one ethnic group to 'purify' the region by driving out all the others"(Ricchiardi 14). NATO, as well as the United Nations, were involved, cease-fires were implemented, and UNICEF and other organizations brought food and water, yet 200,000 died inexplicably. Years after this incident, children who were in Bosnia during the war have been scared for life and are now forced to cope with something they do not understand. In the Bosnian war of 1992-1995, children were the most effected generation because an estimated fifteen thousand were deliberately killed and the surviving children were robbed of a normal childhood.

Fifteen thousand children were killed in the Bosnian war by ethnic cleansing that was enforced by bombings and murders.