A flat Bosnian plain, around 1km wide bordered on our left by a dark ridge and further away to our right, mountains which disappear into the clouds. It´s mainly pasture with few trees but houses are randomly scattered around both close to the road and towards the ridge.We are heading north towards the Croatian border and are seeing for the first time the wide scale devastation which has occurred in rural Bosnia as a result of the ethnic conflict. The houses are simple brick structures of varying sizes but all have been damaged in the war. Many are reduced to brick shells, roofs and windows missing while others have been patched up to provide shelter.
There is an EU "Program for Return" in operation but what a place to go back to. The worst sight was a house where the upstairs had been burnt out and the windows once sealed with polythene with people downstairs. In the distance to our right, all that is left of a village is the tightly packed crumbling gable ends pointing towards the sky. And this goes on for mile after mile, hundreds of properties all with the scars of war.
With no escape it´s a mentally gruelling ride. Those that survived the 'ethnic cleansing' that occurred have had to endure destruction, displacement and dispossession. And this was a war fought between neighbours, a conflict setting groups of people against each other who one lived peacefully.
Very similar to the chaos we have created in Iraq.
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