ROME, July 16 (Reuter) - The European Union commissioner
responsible for humanitarian aid on Sunday condemned what she
described as "genocide" in the town of Srebrenica, which was
overrun by Bosnian Serbs last week.
"We are facing a genuine case of genocide," Commissioner Emma
Bonino of Italy said in a statement to the Italian news agency
ANSA in the Croatian capital Zagreb.
"All sources agree that beyond the 4,000 missing presumed to
be in the (Serb-held) Bratunac stadium, another 8,000 are
unaccounted for. They've just disappeared," added Bonino, who
has just visited refugee camps in the Bosnian town of Tuzla.
About 23,000 Moslem refugees had arrived in government-held
territory after being expelled from the eastern enclave of
Srebrenica in a wave of "ethnic cleansing". Most are women,
children and the elderly.
U.N. officials say they are extremely concerned about the
fate of 4,000 Moslem men believed still held by Serb forces.
Refugees have told reporters of young women being taken off
by Serb convoys and of men being slaughtered. U.N. officials are
gathering information from refugees about alleged war crimes.
Bonino said the EU was setting up refugee camps in the
central town of Zenica, northwest of Sarajevo, for use in the
event of the fall of the "safe area" of Zepa to Bosnian Serbs.
Serb troops have moved within 500 metres of the centre of
Zepa, an eastern Bosnian enclave where 15,000 Moslems are
protected by just 79 Ukrainian peacekeepers.
Bonino said that the situation in Tuzla remained difficult
with 5,000 people camped out on the airport tarmac in sweltering
temperatures and without adequate cooking facilities.
She said a further 11,000 refugees had been accommodated in
camps set up in schools and factories in and around Tuzla.
The Italian charity Caritas said on Sunday it was sending
100,000 tonnes of food to Tuzla and would supply 10 camp
kitchens that could provide hot food for as many as 3,000
people. It also planned to send 5,000 individual packets of
soap, shampoo and disinfectant.
