Social assistance recipients in Leposavic: If we lose the Center for Social Work, we'll end up on the streets

A large number of social assistance recipients gathered today in front of the Center for Social Work offices in Leposavic. They came out of fear of what would happen after the announcement by the Kosovo authorities and the eviction notice delivered by Mayor Lulzim Hetemi, demanding that the premises be vacated by Monday.

Recipients of social assistance funded by the government of the Republic of Serbia are worried and scared because they rely on the Center for Social Work for aid used for food, medicine, and other necessities, as well as to provide for their children's school supplies.

Radosava Vukojevic from Leposavic, who suffers from asthma, uses social assistance to buy medicine, and she finds traveling to Raska very difficult, and she fears that she will also have to go there to collect social assistance.

"I am very sick, I have asthma and diabetes, and I take Medopar. Just look at all the medicine I have. I have to go to Raska. What can I do? I pay for a taxi to take me to the bus station, then get on the bus, and then take another taxi there. What can I do? I have to buy it. Look, son, 550 dinars for two inhalers and a Berodual inhaler. I am worried, of course I am. Please, son, give me as much as you can from 1,000 for my diabetes and other medications," Vukojevic says.

Danijela Cosic is also worried about the situation they have found themselves in and the announcement about the eviction of the Social Work Center.

"It will be hard for all of us. We know how we survive from month to month. We live off this social assistance, as you know. There are also young people and families who truly rely on it. I am pleading with everyone at the top, including our president Aleksandar Vucic, it would be tragic if these people, who receive at least some social assistance, were to lose it. It is hard for all of us. I’m not just saying this for myself, but for everyone else. It’s a difficult situation. This income is all we have. Hopefully, they won’t take it away from us. We use it for groceries, medicine, for our children, and we can barely make ends meet," Cosic said.

Violeta Acimovic, a Romani woman from the village of Kamen near Lesak, points out that she relies on social assistance provided through the Social Work Center.

"This social assistance means a lot to me. I feed four children. I live off social assistance from Serbia in Leposavic, and whenever there is additional aid, they always give it to us, and I thank them for that. It means a lot to us. If this goes away, what will we do? We will have to go out on the streets. We use this to buy food for our children so they can go to school. How can I go to Raska? I have to wait in a long line, and I also have a little granddaughter who is two months old. If we lose this social assistance, we are in trouble," Acimovic said.

The Director of the Social Work Center, Natasa Nastic, explained the Center’s responsibilities and how much more difficult things will become if it is closed.

"We will try to help all these people as much as we can because the Center for Social Work handles all the documentation related to cash payments, where people have to go to Raska to collect their assistance. We deal with placing children and adults in homes, caring for children without one or both parents, handling divorces involving children, issuing certificates of parental rights at the birth of children. No child born in the municipality of Leposavic can be registered without the mother coming here to obtain a certificate stating that she has not been deprived of parental rights. We conduct assessments and issue referrals for caregivers for disabled children, the elderly, and unprotected individuals. We also deal with domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, drug addiction, assistance for refugees and internally displaced persons, and any additional needs. As you can see, our clients have gathered here in large numbers out of fear for their existence and what will happen," Nastic stated.

The Mayor of Leposavic, Lulzim Hetemi, issued a notice on Monday with a one-week deadline, ordering the eviction of the Center for Social Work in Leposavic, which serves 1,500 citizens from the most vulnerable categories of the population.