The four documents below reflect the arrival of successive waves of Srebrenica refugees as during July and early August of 1995, after the enclave’s fall on July 11, they reached territory under the control of Sarajevo authorities. The reports, by different neutral agencies and observers, cover the period from July 15 to August 4, 1995. The first report, in chronological order, refers mainly to the non-combatants from Srebrenica who had assembled at the UN base in Potočari and were bused over to the front line by Serbian authorities. The next report, dated two days later, probably also includes some portion of the column which broke out of Srebrenica and by that time had reached Second Corps positions. The third and fourth reports, dated end of July and early August, probably include more men from the column, as well as stragglers who by then were reaching the Tuzla area. The picture that emerges is of more refugees arriving and being recorded over time, beginning with about 19,700 on July 15 and reaching 35,632 by August 4, 1995. More may have arrived later, but records are not available. That is precisely the natural course of events that would be expected under the circumstances. Given that the enclave’s total population in July of 1995 is estimated to have been about 40,000 and that thousands in the column were killed in combat on the way to Tuzla, these demographic data make it difficult to see the justification for the 8,000 executions figure.
Akashi to Annan on arriving refugees and conditions in Tuzla and Srebrenica, 15 April 1995
UNPROFOR (Ken Biser) report on arriving refugees and conditions in Tuzla, 17 July 1995
WHO report about 34,341 Srebrenica arrivals, 29 July 1995
UNPROFOR report of 35,632 Srebrenica arrivals, 4 August 1995