Bosniak Parents Threaten Srebrenica School Boycott

The parents said that Bosniak pupils at the primary school in Srebrenica must be given report cards where it's clearly marked that they have been attending classes in the Bosnian language, not in 'Bosniak' - and they threatened to remove their children if it doesn't happen.

"We are the only school in the region where the cards have not been regularly distributed to the students," Alija Tabakovic, a Srebrenica resident whose children go to the primary school, told BIRN.

"We have talked to the principal and we have serious indications that this might depend on the fact that the Ministry of Education of Republika Srpska intends to refer to the language as Bosniak, and not as Bosnian. If our suspicions are confirmed, we'll start boycotting the school," Tabakovic said.

Bosniaks who returned to Republika Srpska have been protesting for months about the official definition of their language, especially after the entity's education ministry decided to label it 'Bosniak' on the school report cards issued in June 2015.

The report cards that were due to be sent out at the end of 2015 to around 250 Bosniak children at the primary school in Srebrenica have not yet been distributed.

The constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina states the three official languages of the country are Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian.

But the constitution of Republika Srpska states that the official languages of the entity are those of "the Serb, Croat and Bosniak people".

Many Bosniaks believe their language should be defined as 'Bosnian' because this would reaffirm the existence of a common cultural and historical heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But the authorities in Republika Srpska prefer to focus on the existence of three separate peoples - Serbs...