Bosnia War’s Impact on Children

Half the children in war-torn Sarajevo have witnessed somebody die, the U.N. Children’s Fund estimated Tuesday.

A survey of 105 children in the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina found 39% had lost at least one family member in the year-old battle for Sarajevo and 51% “have seen someone who was killed.”

UNICEF said 40% of the children interviewed in February had been shot at by snipers, 81% had been in situations in which they feared death and 72% said their homes were shelled.

Up to 3,000 children have been killed in the battle for Sarajevo, and no child has escaped the emotional trauma of war, UNICEF said in a statement coinciding with the first anniversary of the outbreak of fighting in the former Yugoslav republic.

UNICEF said another survey of refugee children from Sarajevo and other Bosnian cities found that almost all suffer from nightmares, apathy and aggression.

Many children who saw people shot or were exposed to shelling showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition often found in soldiers who faced combat, the organization said.

The agency’s executive director, James P. Grant, urged leaders of Bosnia’s three warring ethnic factions “to set aside their differences and make peace.” He demanded that all sides respect a U.N. convention designed to protect children in armed conflict.