Fleeing Croatia’s Operation Storm: Serb Women Recall Their Traumatic Escape

A few days before this week's 25th anniversary of the Croatian Army's Operation Storm, Anja Simpraga, an MP from the Independent Democratic Serbian Party, gave a speech in the Croatian parliament, describing how she became a refugee as a child in August 1995 because of the military offensive.

"On August 4, 1995, I was exactly eight years old… With a backpack bought for the second grade of elementary school, I was ready for a trip that had no name and that led who knows where," Simpraga said in an emotional address to the legislature.

"The convoy was long… I shared the last pieces of bread… with my relatives," she added.

Some 200,000 Serbs fled the country in long convoys of vehicles as the Croatian Army seized back territory held by the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina. But Simpraga said her family really wanted to return, and eventually came back to live in the town of Knin in 1999.

"Today, 25 years later, this girl from the convoy is standing in front of you. I have only one wish: to build a free society and a common future," the MP said, to applause from the chamber.

Simpraga was one of the many Serb women and girls who had a similar experience during and after Operation Storm in 1995.

Ahead of this week's 25th anniversary, BIRN went to visit some of those who returned to live in post-war Croatia, as a part of a five-day trip entitled 'Remember History, Don't Repeat It', which was organised by the Serbian National Council, the biggest organisation representing Croatia's Serbs, and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights NGO.

Most of the women who spoke to BIRN, like Simpraga, left Croatia in a refugee convoy for Serbia. Like Simpraga, they also said they want a better future in which there is peace between...