Taking advantage of the confusing situation of welfare recipients

The President of the Party for the Complete Emancipation of Romas – PCER, Samka Ibraimoski, on Sunday afternoon wrote on his Facebook profile that the Rulebook on the manner of exercising the right to social welfare has been terminated, with which the recipients of social welfare who receive money from abroad through money transfers, have started losing that right!

Ibraimoski, who was also Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Policy nearly a decade ago, wrote that the Rulebook had been terminated by the current Minister Frosina Remenski Tasevska, but on Monday had removed all of his Facebook statuses. This left many recipients of social welfare in doubt, even though Ibraimoski stated that his Facebook profile might have been hacked and that he doesn’t know who deleted his status.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy said for CIVIL Media that currently, analyses of all secondary acts are being prepared, through which the Law on social protection and other laws are implemented, with the purpose of reviewing their compliance with the laws and the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. According to the Ministry, the above mentioned Rulebook on the manner of exercising the right to social welfare is also a subject of analysis.

“The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is acting upon the unsolved cases on appeal, in relation to the right to social welfare that has been terminated, among which, the money transfers being one of the reasons for this. If there are grounds for accepting the appeal and revoking the first instance decision, than these people can exercise their right to welfare if they are fulfilling all of the other requirements, stated Zaklina Velickovska, Head of Department for Public Relations within the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy.

She added that the Ministry is also waiting for the information from the Centers for Social Work in Republic of Macedonia, in regards to the number of recipients of social welfare who have lost their right as a result of receiving money by money transfer for 2015, and upon the renewal, for 2016.

According to CIVIL’s information, in the past period, at least one hundred citizens have lost their right to social welfare, as a result of the money they received through money transfers. These social cases are currently not receiving any state funds. Therefore, the speculation that their right that had been terminated with the controversial Rulebook has now been restored, did cause hope and excitement among the beneficiaries of social welfare, especially among the Roma population.

Some of the people that we contacted, and who had taken the news “for granted”, were delighted. But, before they can really be thrilled, they will have to wait for the analyses to be completed, to have all the amendments made and to have all of this published in the Official Gazette, on the official site of the Ministry, or at a press-conference.

Until then, just like until now, these people on social welfare, as marginalized members of society and especially as vulnerable groups, continue to be an easy prey for eager political hunters, regardless of their ideological provenance, who are manipulating them, trying to gain pre-election benefits.

It was not long ago when former Prime Minister and current leader of VMRO-DPMNE Nikola Gruevski claimed that the Government had been continuously increasing welfare payments, announcing the new increase precisely in the period when some recipients of welfare, who receive money from abroad through money transfers, started losing that right with decisions such as the one that is disputed, resulting in a decrease in the number of social welfare beneficiaries.

“So far, since the Government structure is in office, social welfare has risen by nearly 62 percent, being increased every year gradually. In July 2016, the increase will be more than 65 percent” said Gruevski at the beginning of the year.

Dehran Muratov