Over 100 thousand people in Kosovo live with social assistance

For this, human rights organisations say that a large number engage in various activities on the street that harm their psychophysic health.

They call for increased services for children and their families, such as opening more temporary housing centers.

Currently, the Ministry of Labour and Social Management has registered about 100 children who do hard work. Selvette Sadiku, leader of the Social Assistance Division, says of KosovoPress, that Pristina is the city with the largest number of charities.

The country's “for 2019 social work centres have identified 258 cases. Not all charitable seekers, in the context of hard jobs, are not just the activities of charity seekers, are different sectors such as construction, agriculture, the road sector and others. As for alms-seekers, Kosovo Police in co-operation with the Centres for Social Affairs have identified 100 cases. This does not mean that it is a real figure, but these are cases that have been identified and some form have received services from the Centre for Social Affairs, those services that exist”, she tells Kosovas.

Such activities conflict with the law, under which child employment is prohibited in activities that harm security, health, morals and their psycho-physical development.

In a written reply, Kosovo police have indicated the number of persons listed as charity-seekers during 2019.

“In 2019 a total of 232 elderly people have been registered. Reporting for counter-insulting (rest) is 17, and there are 33 expulsions”, the Kosovo Police response reported.

Many have no refuge among them. Selvette Sadiku says she is in the municipality's mandate to handle their housing.

That's why Dren Kukaj, who heads the Department of Social Goods in the Pristina municipality, vows to be finalising a plan to accommodate people who have nowhere to sleep and wake up.

“Streaming is the country's major problem, it's not like we're going to make a final solution. What I can say is that we are on the finalisation of a plan for a major social residence scheme that will be done through a new form that has not been made so far. The idea is that we have identified a large number of public lands, and we'll give them in exchange for residential units. Depending on how this plan will work now, we hope that all social cases that have applied in the Pristina municipality, to accommodate us through this social residence scheme”, Kukaj says of Kosovas Prees.

The poverty rate in the country is about 30 per cent. Selvette Sadiku from the Ministry of Labour and Social Management has shown how many families receive social assistance.

“As users of social aid currently at the Kosovo level are 24 thousand and 352 families. That's 98 thousand and 756 members. The minimum amount for one member is 60 euros, while the maximum is 180 euros, earmarked for a 15-member family. Depending on how many members the family is”, Sadiku says.

Representatives of the Council for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms Valentina Demolli say the state would have to do more seriously in planning the action that it would be able to weather cases when children are working on jobs that are not for them.

Unless we see these children during the day, or these charity-seekers, we meet them in the late hours of the night, but also in situations that we can say are dangerous even for their lives. The state of Kosovo would have to do more seriously in the action plan with which these situations could be cited, thus including all institutions which are responsible and may have influence in this regard. In addition to a rehabilitation of those people who could first offer with the offering of a proper shelter, then other conditions. Of course these children, because all of these men are charity-seekers and we see them on the streets of the cities, these unfortunately have abandoned even the learning process, or school process”, she adds.

Demolli considers that other conditions would have to be offered in addition to one shelter, so that they can return to the learning process.

In an effort to help these children, organisation “Terdemem”, along with the Pristina municipality, opened the first centre in Kosovo for daily child housing during 2019. Pristina, Prizren and Fushe Kosova are the three cities where there are mostly charity-seekers.

Last year the average value of social assistance was 75 euros per month, while the average monthly salary in the public sector is 573 euros.