International Scientific Conference “History of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina” Held

The need to study the history of Roma was an incentive to organize the International Scientific Conference “History of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina” was held today at the University of Sarajevo, organized by the Institute of History of the University of Sarajevo and the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences from Zagreb.

Director of the Institute of History of the University of Sarajevo Dr. Sedad Bešlija he pointed out that they have decided to actuate this topic because dealing with marginal vulnerable groups of society speaks of society itself.

“I am glad that we have been able to bring together a respectable number of researchers dealing with this theme from BiH and neighboring countries, but also other countries, and hopefully this conference will go crazy with significant scientific results, above all, in the field of historical research but that it will give the social community and the institutions of government certain guidelines on how to take care of the Roma population and their needs in one adequate way, both in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so in the neighborhood and beyond in Europe”, said the director Bešlija.

He pointed out that the success of one government is measured precisely towards the vulnerable groups of society.

Dr. Daniel Vojak from the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences from Zagreb said it was important to meet Roma history because Roma history is part of our history.

“We cannot understand the history of one people where Roma lived among them if we do not understand the history of the Roma. We cannot understand the overall history of the people living in the BiH, Croatia or in another European country without understanding the overall relationship to the minority population. Roma have always been the others, that minority, that is why we have the need to study their history not as separate as part of our history. When we know the culture of that neighbor, then we can establish better connections.”

The conference included four key sessions dealing with different periods in the history of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including periods of Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian rule, a period between the two world wars, during World War II and the post-war period.

The aim of the conference was to bring together and encourage researchers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries, who can contribute to their scientific research to understanding the complex history of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the goals of the conference is to strive to encourage scientific research on topics from the past of Bosnian Roma and to move the same from the margins of science. It is precisely by exploring the history of the Roma as an integral part of their ethnic identity that it seeks to point out that they are an integral part of the history of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The conference also included the signing of the Cooperation Agreement of the Institute of History of the University of Sarajevo and the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences.