Srebrenica surviving relatives get €20K damages

The surviving relatives of the three Bosniaks left for dead in the Srebrenica massacre by Dutchbat forces in 1995 will be paid €20,000 in damages per person by the Ministry of Defense. 

After the High Court determined The Netherlands partially responsible for the death of the men, it was already expected that a payment of damages would be the next step, Elsevier reports.

Even though the Dutchbat forces knew that there was no guaranteed safety beyond the walls of their muslim enclave, they still sent the Bosniaks out.

The father and brother of Dutchbat translator Hasan Nuhanovic and electrician Rizo Mustafic were sent out. Ethnic cleansing and general violence is what they met. They were killed shortly after by the Bosnian-Serbian army.

Previously, the Dutch State claimed no responsibility for their deaths, but in the end gave in. The families of Nuhanovic and Mustafic say that they did not do it for the damages. "There is no damages amount that comes close to the importance of the judgement", says lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld.

Now, the Dutch State says to be "saddened by what happened to the families Nuhanovic and Mustafic, and hopes that with the release of these damages, the surviving relatives can take another step in the process of their loss." The Bosnian right is what the height of the amount is based on.