Srebrenica revelations stun Dutch battalion members

Former Dutchbat soldiers are stunned by the new information about the fall of Srebrenica that was revealed in a documentary about the enclave that was aired on Monday. They are demanding answers.

"We want nothing but the whole truth about the fall of the enclave in 1995 put on the table", a statement by the Association Dutchbat 3 says, RTL Nieuws reports. "Even if it maybe tears old wounds open again."

In an interview with NOS on Monday, former minister Joris Voorhoeve revealed that a secret deal between France, Britain and the United States was the reason that the Dutch UN soldiers did not get air support in the Bosnian Muslim enclave of Srebrenica. The Netherlands was never informed of this decision.

The documentary Waarom Srebrenica moest vallen, or Why Srebrenica had to fall in English, also revealed that the allies may have had intelligence about a possible attack on the enclave by Bosnian Serbs. This information was also not shared with the Netherlands. The documentary showed that there are still documents from the weeks surrounding the fall of Srebrenica that have not been released.

The Dutchbat solders are now demanding that the Dutch State does everything possible to find the missing documents, that are in American hands, and release them. "Dutchbat veterans now after 20 years want to close their mission and move on with life, without being confronted with new facts every 20 years.