__NOTOC__ Workers' Aid for Bosnia (sometimes abbreviated to "Workers' Aid") was founded in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1993, after a call by the Campaign Against Fascism in Europe (CAFE). Sixty people –

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s and

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s – met to discuss how to organise solidarity with those people in ex-

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

defending a united, multi-ethnic

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. Workers' Aid was supported by the International Socialist Group, the USFI, and the Workers Revolutionary Party (Workers Press). However, there was rivalry between these groupings which did not help the solidarity project. At the founding meeting a letter was read out from a Serbian opponent of Serb nationalism. It appealed for workers in Britain to take food to the mining communities of

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

, the multi-ethnic bastion of Bosnia and Herzegovina that had been under siege by nationalist forces for many months. This became its first major activity. Steve Myers of CAFE, one of the initiators of Workers' Aid for Bosnia, was elected International Coordinator, and this later grew to involve liaising with workers organisations and convoys from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Hungary and Italy. In Britain it began as an appeal for volunteers, money and food. Meetings were held throughout the country appealing for support from the trade unions and the working class movement. It bought its first lorry with money donated by the Muslim Solidarity Campaign. Once further lorries were available, they travelled in

convoys A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

. What distinguished Workers Aid from other humanitarian charities and NGOs was its explicit political stance. It advocated the raising of the UN imposed aid and arms embargo, which effectively left the Bosnians defenceless against the much better armed Serb nationalists. As part of this, whilst passing through Zagreb, Croatia, ten lorries of the convoy blockaded the UN military compound and appeared on national Croatian TV, demanding the lifting of the arms embargo. Workers' Aid did not see the war as a civil war between warring tribalisms, but a specific political project driven by western interference, Greater Serb nationalism and, to a lesser extent, Croatian nationalism. Workers Aid never saw itself as a charity, but as a campaigning organisation aiming to catalyse a response from the broader labour movement across Europe. The group continued its work in the former Yugoslavia, first visiting

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

in January 1996. Under its new name, Workers Aid for Kosova (''Kosova'' is the

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

name of Kosovo), it was one of the first organisations to take aid to Kosovo during the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

intervention of July 1999. During July and August of that year they supported miners in and around

Kosovska Mitrovica Mitrovica (Albanian language, Albanian Definiteness, indefinite Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Mitrovicë''; sr-Cyrl, Митровица, Mitrovica), also referred to as Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-Cyrl, Косовска Митр� ...

and

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

, and – with support from the students' representative council of the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

together with Aid Convoy – supplied the students' union of the

University of Pristina The University of Pristina () is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–1999) as a result of the Kosovo War. The inauguration ...

. A film exists of this trip, entitled simply ''Convoy'', and made by Rachel Robertson, a member of the convoy team.''Convoy'' at the Internet Movie Database
/ref> Later, some of Workers' Aid members went on to other political campaigns, such as Reclaim the Streets and the Liverpool Dockers' Strike. Others became involved with mainstream charitable organisations, or ran other organisations such as Aid Convoy, which continues to work in neighbouring

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

as well as other countries. Many individual trade union branches and members also took practical solidarity action.

References

External links

Aid Convoy
– a humanitarian aid organisation which grew from a branch of Workers' Aid for Kosova.
Convoy
– the film of the July/August 1999 convoy to Kosova (accessed at Vimeo)
Taking Sides - The Story of the Workers Aid Convoys
– Interview with Activist Bob Meyers in 2020 (accessed at Labournet.tv) Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1993 Foreign charities operating in Bosnia

See also

References

Further reading

External links