The 1990s Refugees and Immigration

Between 1991 and 1999, the wars of Yugoslav dissolution forced millions of people from their homes. Bosnians, Kosovars, Croats, and others fled to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, Scandinavia, and beyond, arriving as refugees in countries that were often unprepared, unwilling, or ambivalent about their presence. Many were given temporary protection status, told they would return when the war ended. Many never did.

This series documents that experience from the inside — through the voices of people who lived it. We speak with survivors, former refugees, and their children about the journey, the reception, the years of uncertainty, and the slow process of building a life in a country that had not asked for them. We also examine the political and legal frameworks that shaped their experience, and the ways in which those frameworks continue to affect diaspora communities today.

Episodes cover the Bosnian war and genocide, the Kosovo conflict, the experience of temporary protection, the politics of return, and the long-term psychological and social effects of forced displacement.

What it means to build a life in a new country where you arrived with one pair of clothes, no language skills, leaving the loved ones in a conflict ridden country.