It is definitely known here that Bosnian Serb authorities have prepared a scenario according to which the Srebrenica inhabitants would be "sent" to Serbia. With that in mind, just before the beginning of the attack on Srebrenica, local population was directed in fliers and instructions played through loudspeakers to seek safety either by surrendering in Bratunac, fleeing towards Tuzla and Kladanj or by crossing the Drina, for which, supposedly, the safety was guaranteed to all innocent civilians.
The speed of reaction on the right shore of the Drina indicates that some of this is true: border units of the Yugoslav Army received in mid-July special instructions and warnings about future crossings. First groups which crossed the Drina were detected in three ways: some of them voluntarily surrendered to the Yugoslav Army and police in Serbia, some of them called the Army from the Bosnian shore and some were arrested in Cacak, Pozega, Valjevo and Uzice. The crossings extended through the second half of July and were especially frequent during the last week of the month. When the news about these events spread, the border authorities in collaboration with the police department for illegal crossings organized the evacuation of the Bosnian refugees. There are no reliable informations about where those who crossed into Serbia between 20 and 30 July had been evacuated; it is estimated that there were more than 120 of them. It is assumed that they were deported to the Republic Srpska since the local [Bosnian Serb] authorities had expressed a lot of interest and veritable hunger for the refugees from Srebrenica and Zepa.
The last wave of crossings over the Drina occured in the night between Sunday and Monday, July 31. Then, in groups of 5 to 20 people, 501 Muslim civilians (until the writing of this article) crossed over to Serbia. They were in a terrible condition, tired and exhausted. For a few weeks, before they headed for the Drina, they had wondered through the forests around Zepa and Srebrenica. Most of them swam over the Drina between Zepa and the village of Jagostica on the Serbian side. The border Army units and the police questioned them and sent them to one of the objects reserved for the group accommodation. Until Tuesday (August 1) it wasn't expected that the invasion of the refugees will be of that extent; on Tuesday, the number of refugees reached 500.
On Tuesday, a political delegation and a Serbian TV team reached the secluded village of Jagostica in a helicopter. Muslim refugees were visited by Serbian commissioner for refugees, Bratislava Morina, escorted by the Minister of Health and the representatives of the international Red Cross. This delegation "carried out" the promotional visit to the refugees in Mitrovac on the Tara mountain where, in front of the Serbian TV cameras the statements of the "misguided Alija's soldiers who trust Serbia and its authorities" were recorded. At the same time the work and movement of journalists were strictly forbidden in this region.
Until the completion of this article (Wednesday 5:30 p.m.) we have received the information that Bosnian refugees were taken to the objects reserved for the group accommodation in Branesko Polje near Uzice and that all of them are "under protection" of the Serbian police.