SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The remains of seven victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide will be buried at a collective funeral on July 11 at the Srebrenica Memorial Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Institute for Missing Persons said Wednesday.

Each year on July 11, newly identified victims of Europe's worst atrocity since World War II are laid to rest at the Potocari memorial cemetery, marking the anniversary of the genocide that claimed more than 8,000 lives.

The UN General Assembly has recognized July 11 as Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day, with commemorations planned across the country. Thousands of visitors from around the world are expected to attend this year's funeral.

Coffins bearing the names of the deceased on Saturday will be transported from Visoko to Srebrenica. After the funeral, the number of victims buried at the cemetery will rise to 6,762.

On the 30th anniversary of the genocide, this year's youngest victims are Senajid Avdic and Hariz Mujic, both 19 when they were killed in July 1995. Avdic was found in Suljici in 2010, while Mujic was found in Baljkovica, Zvornik, in 2022.

The oldest victim, 67-year-old Fata Bektic, will be the only woman buried this year. Her remains were found in Potocari in 2021.

Victims’ remains were recovered from mass graves in Liplje, Baljkovica, Suljici, and Kamenicko Brdo. Many remains are incomplete, leaving families to bury only a few bones.

Hasib Omerovic, who was 34 when killed, was exhumed in 1998, but his family delayed burial due to the limited remains recovered.

The victims to be buried this year are:

• Senajid Husein Avdic, born 1976
• Hariz Ramiz Mujic, born 1976
• Fata Huso Bektic, born 1928
• Hasib Adem Omerovic, born 1961
• Sejdalija Alija Alic, born 1961
• Rifet Mustafa Gabeljic, born 1964
• Amir Ibrahim Mujcic, born 1964

The Podrinje Identification Project in Tuzla holds the remains of nine more identified victims awaiting family consent for burial.

The institute has appealed to families who have identified their loved ones to give their consent for burial so they can be laid to rest during collective funerals.

The project also holds the remains of 45 more victims identified through DNA testing but pending formal family confirmation due to the limited remains recovered.

In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces attacked the UN-declared safe area of Srebrenica, killing more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys despite the presence of Dutch peacekeepers. The forces led by Gen. Ratko Mladic, who was later sentenced to life for war crimes and genocide, overran the area on July 11, executing around 2,000 men and boys that day and thousands more in the following days as they fled into nearby forests.

The bodies of victims have been found in 570 mass graves across Bosnia and Herzegovina.