Sladjan Jozic on the burning house near Istok: Everything was destroyed, but the desire to return still exists

Sladjan Jozic, one of the members of the returnee family whose house was set on fire the previous night in the village of Veric, near Istok, told for Kosovo Online that he received the keys to the new home on Friday, but that the house is now completely destroyed and that his family currently does not feel safe to return, although the desire is still there.

He pointed out that his parents were supposed to live in the new house, who, unfortunately, did not even get to see what their new home looked like.

The house in the village of Veric was built by the local self-government with the help of UNHCR, and Jozic states that the building has 45 square meters, like other houses built for returnee families, and that it was fully functional.

"The house was big 45 square meters and such houses are made for returnees. We were supposed to go see it, but we went to Jagodina to wait for the furniture to arrive and then for my parents to move. We received the information around eight o'clock this morning, an Albanian neighbor informed us that he saw smoke coming out of the house, and then the police and firefighters who arrived to put out the fire," Jozic tells us.

He states that he received pictures of the damaged house, adding that the damage was total: the floors were set on fire, the walls and tiles were destroyed, as well as the bathroom, which was in operation.

"Right now, we don't feel safe to return, we had the desire, we still have the desire, but safety comes first. We didn't report the case to anyone, as they told us, the firemen and the police went to the field, they were there and representatives of the UNHCR. I strongly doubt that anyone will answer," says Jozic.

As he has said, there is currently no information about the perpetrator or the suspect.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced today that the house of the returning Jozic family was set on fire, that such incidents are frequent, which, as they stated, "indicates Pristina's lack of will to prevent such events and provide conditions for coexistence in Kosovo and Metohija".