Twenty families are awaiting the winter in container settlement Padaliste in Gracanica under dire living circumstances, RTK 2 reports. Their situation remains unresolved for eighteen years now.
The solution is yet to be found for the inhabitants of this settlement, who live under inhuman conditions. The cold weather additionally impairs the lives of these people.
“We use electricity for heating, we are still waiting for the firewood. The Commissariat for Refugees is paying for the electricity, but we are afraid restrictions might start, the container gets cold very quickly where there is no electricity. This month it went off twice, but it was not that much cold, however, it is getting colder now,” Zoran Ilic said.
“When it comes to the firewood, no one helped us so far. We use electricity for heating, for now there is electricity. I have my own firewood, I bought two cubic meters, I am trying to manage,” Biljana Djokic added.
“If there is electricity, it is warm, if there is no electricity we do nothing, no one is asking us anything. This is not life, I cannot stand this any longer,” Vekoslav Ulamovic told RTK2.
Several families receive one meal per day, most of them live on minimal wages and social aid, but there are some among them who have no incomes at all. They said it is hard to live in containers of 10 square meters, with many problems.
“This is a disaster; the bathroom is in dire condition. Half of us get one meal per day, the rest do not. I do not get food, and there is no money even for the bread,” Zoran stressed.
“We live under very difficult conditions; the biggest problem is with the bathroom when it gets cold. We have no washing machine, we wash things manually, but it is not difficult,” Biljana said.
“The living conditions are disastrous, I have never got lunch here, my sick mother is feeding me, so I do not remain hungry. They tell me you are here as a user, nothing more. I have confirmation from Kragujevac that I am a returnee in Kosovo. We came here as returnees and we got nothing,” Vekoslav said.
Commissariat for Refugees and Displaced Persons’ representatives did not want to talk before TV cameras, but told RTK 2 over the phone, that firewood for this winter is expected and then the families would get it. They also explained the daily meal is not meant for all the inhabitants of this settlement, and only 8 families meet the criteria for that, since they have the status of internally displaced persons.
