Abstract
The story of the Kozarac returnee community is one of solidarity, rediscovered agency and strength born out of suffering, from its beginnings in violent ethnic cleansing, the camps and displacement, through the fightback led by the 17th Brigade and on to the return process itself. This experience gave the community confidence and shaped their strategies in navigating the politically fraught, and at times violent, landscape of refugee return in Bosnia. For many of them, return to Kozarac seemed to close the circle that began in 1992, and they hoped it would alleviate their feelings of dehumanisation and loss. But in reality, neither the struggle for return nor the physical rebuilding of the town could recreate the community and life they had before the war, nor overcome the challenges of contested return in a hostile environment. It would take another decade to accept the fact that, although the community was rebuilt, it remains a ‘returnee community’ that is separated from the wider municipality of Prijedor.
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Sivac-Bryant, S. (2016). Conclusion: On Return as Redress. In: Re-Making Kozarac. Palgrave Studies in Compromise after Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58838-8_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58838-8_8
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