Sally Becker

Sally Becker (born 29 March 1962) is a British humanitarian aid worker, best known for her work during the Bosnian and Kosovo Wars in the late 1990s. She is the founder of charities Road to Peace and Save a Child. She is credited with saving hundreds of lives through her actions in the Balkans, and was frequently referred to in the British media as the "Angel of Mostar".[1]

Sally Becker
Born (1962-03-29) 29 March 1962
Bristol, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
OccupationAid worker
Websitehttp://www.sallybecker.co.uk/

Activism

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Moved by the images of suffering in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Becker travelled there to deliver aid to people living close to the front line in west Mostar, driving into and out of the city in an old Renault.[2] As one of the only foreign aid workers able to travel freely in the area, she was asked by a UN officer to try and gain access to the east side of the city, where 50,000 Bosniaks were trapped. With permission from the Croatian Ministry of Defence, she crossed the front line to evacuate wounded children and their families from the besieged hospital. The mission was successful and she became known as the Angel of Mostar.[3]

On 10 December 1993, she led a convoy of 57 ambulances and trucks from the United Kingdom to deliver medical aid to besieged hospitals on all sides of the conflict. She managed to arrange ceasefires, and is credited with saving hundreds of lives.[4] The mission was dubbed Operation Angel and later became a registered charity.

In February 1994, aid convoys were grounded due to snow, leaving 28 injured children and their families trapped in a monastery serving as a makeshift hospital in Nova Bila. Becker reached the area by helicopter and flew them to safety.[5]

Kosovo

When Slobodan Milošević ordered his troops into Kosovo as part of the Kosovo War, Becker led a humanitarian aid convoy to the region. When the borders were closed, she brought the convoys to northern Albania where thousands of refugees had escaped from the fighting. Led by a soldier from the Kosovo Liberation Army, she crossed the mountains into Kosovo on foot to bring pediatric medicines to a besieged hospital in Junik. While she was there, she was asked to take 25 children and their mothers across the mountains to safety. They were ambushed by Serb paramilitaries and Becker was captured and imprisoned.[6] The families made it across the border and, when Becker was eventually released, she traced them to a refugee camp in northern Albania.

She arranged for them to travel to the United Kingdom for medical treatment but on 13 November 1998, the day the Hellenic Air Force was supposed to fly them to Britain, Home Office Minister, Jack Straw, refused to issue their visas.[7] Two days later, Becker was shot in the leg by masked gunmen as she returned to her hotel with a colleague.[8][9] The President of Albania sent his Minister of Health to evacuate her but she refused to leave without the children, remaining in the area until they were accepted for treatment in other countries. On 27 November 1998, Becker resigned from her position as leader of Operation Angel, citing a lack of support from the press and the British government.[7]

Other countries

In August 2006, she brought humanitarian aid to families trapped in shelters during the conflict between Israel and Lebanon.[10] Becker was appointed as a goodwill ambassador for Children of Peace, a multi-faith charity dedicated to building friendship, trust and reconciliation between Israeli and Palestinian children.[11]

In 2014, Becker founded Road to Peace, a British charity helping children in areas of conflict.[12][13] She and her volunteers provided medical treatment for thousands of children fleeing from ISIL in Syria and northern Iraq, and in 2016 attempted to negotiate asylum in the United Kingdom for more than 1,400 Yazidis in the region.[14] in 2018 they established an emergency medical facility for Yazidi children in Sinjar.[15]

Awards and honours

Becker was an Olympic flag bearer representing Peace and Justice at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London alongside United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and boxer Muhammed Ali.[3]

Personal life

Becker's memoir, Sunflowers and Snipers, was published by The History Press in 2012.[2]

References
  1. "November: Sally Becker". BBC News. 22 December 1998. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  2. "Sally Becker went where angels fear to tread". Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  3. Guardian Staff (9 February 2012). "Sally Becker, Angel of Mostar". the Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  4. "Angel of Mostar Sally Becker publishes memoirs". The Argus. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  5. "Briton rescues five Mostar children: Aid worker braves sniper fire and". The Independent. 28 August 1993. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  6. "'Angel' ends prison hunger strike". BBC News. 30 July 1998. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  7. "Operation Angel chief resigns". BBC News. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  8. "Kosovo clashes threaten ceasefire, safety of peace monitors". CNN. 15 November 1998. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  9. "Becker leaves hospital 'for safety'". BBC News. 16 November 1998. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  10. "Sally Becker". Hadassah Magazine. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  11. Jacobs, Gerald (1 November 2012). "Sally Becker looks back on a life in the war zone". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  12. "Yazidi boy who survived ISIS captivity can't come to Canada unless he leaves his big brother behind | CBC Radio". CBC. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  13. Phillips, Kristine (12 February 2017). "A severely injured Iraqi toddler has been in the U.S. for three months — without his parents". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 October 2020. Three months after the explosion, Becker, founder of Road to Peace, a nonprofit that facilitates medical treatment for wounded children in war-torn countries, visited the camp and found out about Dilbireen.
  14. Smith, Mark S (29 April 2016). "'Angel of Mostar' calls on UK Government to open its doors to Yazidi women and children – with the support of Scots MPs". The Herald. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  15. "Iraq's Yazidis return to a healthcare crisis". The New Humanitarian. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2021.

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