Boris Johnson urged to apologise for Srebrenica remarks

UK prime minister accused of making insensitive comments over 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims

A Bosnian Muslim woman cleans a gravestone of a victim of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995, when more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed by the Bosnian Serb Army. Getty Images

Bosnian Muslim women pray as they visit the cemetery for victims of Srebrenica genocide, in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Getty Images

A man rests under a scar from a war-time projectile on the building where remains of victims of the Srebrenica genocide are placed in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Getty Images

A Bosnian Muslim woman cleans a gravestone of her relative at the cemetery in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Getty Images

A man's shadow falls over ]the names of victims of Srebrenica genocide, at the cemetery in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Getty Images

A Bosnian Muslim man prays by coffins of nine victims of the Srebrenica genocide whose remains discovered and identified since July 2019. Getty Images

A daughter of a victim of Srebrenica genocide is hugged by her mother after seeing a coffin with remains of her father. Getty Images

A Bosnian Muslim woman cries between graves of her father, two grandfathers and other close relatives, all victims of Srebrenica genocide, at the cemetery in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Getty Images

Bosnian Muslims cry over a coffin with the remains of a relative killed at Srebrenica in July 1995. Getty Images

Bafta award-winning film director Samir Mehanovic, who came to the UK as an immigrant from the Bosnian war in 1995 and now lives in Scotland, lights candles to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, in Edinburgh, Scotland. AP Photo

The Potocari memorial cemetery near Srebrenica. AFP

Bosnian Muslim Mejra Djogaz, 71, prays between the tombstones of Omer, 19, and Munib, 21, her two sons killed in the Srebrenica massacre, at the Potocari memorial cemetery. More than 6,600 victims lie at the cemetery while another 237 have been laid to rest at other sites. But more than 1,000 people have never been found. AFP

Refugees evacuated from the besieged Muslim enclave of Srebrenica struggle for bread on their arrival in Tuzla, Bosnia on March 29, 1993. AP Photo

More than 2,000 evacuees from the besieged Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, packed on UN trucks en route to Tuzla, halt in Tojsici on March 29, 1993. AP Photo

Refugees from Srebrenica look through the razor-wire at a UN base outside Tuzla on July 13, 1995. AP Photo

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been urged to apologise for a 1997 article where he wrote “they weren't exactly angels, these Muslims” in reference to the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian War.

Mr Johnson’s office said his comments were taken out of context.

A letter to the prime minister signed by 31 members of parliament said “it is unthinkable that you would publicly attend national memorial events, without having apologised for such comments”.

The letter comes 25 years since the massacre at Srebrenica, where more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered by Serb forces.

“There can be no excuse for in any way blaming the victims of a genocide for its perpetration, not even for a prime minister. Meanwhile, to attend such events without reflection on your previous comments is an insult to the victims and their families who continue to suffer the consequences to this day,” the letter reads.

It also refers to allegedly anti-Muslim remarks he has previously made.

“Moreover, considering your long and significant history of racist, Islamophobic, and prejudicial statements, your comments about Srebrenica cannot be seen as an isolated incident,” the letter adds.

Writing in 1997 for the Ottawa Citizen when he was a journalist, Mr Johnson said Srebrenica was the worst massacre on European soil since the Second World War but questioned "what could the West really have done?"

"Alright, I say, the fate of Srebrenica was appalling. But they weren't exactly angels, these Muslims," he wrote.

Mr Johnson’s office says the “quote is clearly taken out of context”.

"The prime minister has, over the last 25 years, consistently condemned the Srebrenica genocide as one of the worst crimes in history."

On Saturday, Mr Johnson paid respects to the victims of the atrocity to mark its 25th anniversary.

People pray near coffins at a graveyard during a mass funeral in Potocari near Srebrenica. Reuters

“I want to join with you once more in mourning the victims of those terrible events, and to stand with the families in their fight for justice,” he said.

“As in so many cases from this conflict which brought violence and destruction across the western Balkans, many families still do not know what happened to their loved ones. Many perpetrators have still not been held to account.

“And there are those who would prefer to forget or deny the enormity of what took place. We must not allow that to happen.”