(MENAFN) The Institute for Missing Persons announced Wednesday that seven newly identified victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide will be laid to rest in a collective funeral on July 11 at the Srebrenica Memorial Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Each year on this date, the Potocari memorial cemetery becomes the final resting place for victims of Europe’s deadliest atrocity since World War II, where over 8,000 lives were brutally taken. The solemn ceremony marks the anniversary of the genocide, drawing thousands of mourners worldwide.

The United Nations General Assembly has officially designated July 11 as Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day, prompting nationwide commemorations across Bosnia and Herzegovina. This year’s funeral is expected to attract an international audience honoring the victims.

On Saturday, coffins inscribed with the names of the deceased will be transported from Visoko to Srebrenica. Following the burials, the total number of victims interred at the Potocari cemetery will increase to 6,762.

As the genocide’s 30th anniversary approaches, the youngest among this year’s victims were 19 years old at the time of their deaths: Senajid Avdic, whose remains were discovered in Suljici in 2010, and Hariz Mujic, found in Baljkovica, Zvornik, in 2022.

The oldest victim to be buried this year is 67-year-old Fata Bektic, the sole female among the seven. Her remains were recovered in Potocari in 2021.

The remains were exhumed from multiple mass grave sites, including Liplje, Baljkovica, Suljici, and Kamenicko Brdo. Due to the incomplete nature of many findings, families are often only able to bury a small portion of their loved ones’ remains.

Hasib Omerovic, aged 34 at the time of his death and exhumed in 1998, remains unburied as his family postponed the funeral because of the limited remains recovered.

MENAFN09072025000045017169ID1109777437