Representatives of the Macedonian Anti-Poverty Platform sent a request to the Speaker of the Parliament, Talat Xhaferi, as well as to all MPs in the near future to be put on the agenda and the new Law on Social Protection and Child Protection passed.

- We want to point out the harm that directly affects a very marginalized group. More than 25,000 families await adoption of this law, which does not address the problem of poverty, but gives hope for leaving the circle in which they have been spinning for a long time, said Zoran Bikovski, a representative from MAPP.

He pointed out that the persons from socially endangered families still live with social assistance in the amount of 2,000 denars, (35 euros) instead, as he said, the same provision of the law, referring to the amount of social assistance, should be replaced with a minimum income that will allow for a four-member family of at least 9,000 (150 euros) to 11,000 denars (185 euros) if their children attend school.

- This means introducing an educational allowance, and for the families of beneficiaries of social assistance, the introduction of child allowance, says Bikovski.

He pointed out that more than 5,000 families are waiting for an old-age pension to be introduced, which will allow people who do not have 15 years of service to be eligible for income.

Stolipinovo, a ghetto neighbourhood near to the center of one of Europe’s oldest and most historical cities, can safely be described as third-world, poverty stricken, rampant with disease, heavily polluted, and somewhat shocking.

As many as fifty-thousand predominantly Roma people are densely packed into concrete communist-era apartment blocks, or within the surrounding tapestry of hobbled-together shacks and shanties. In both cases, many survive without running water.

Much of the district is covered in a putrid sea of trash. Broken sewerage and water pipes leave large pools of fetid water along the main boulevards. Not so long ago, a hepatitis epidemic ran through the area. Unemployment and crime, are off the charts. Many children don’t attend school.

Until now, they had only read and seen tales from Stolipinovo in the local media – dominated by reports of drugs, murder, crime, and poverty. Now, they would see for themselves just what the ghetto down the street was all about.

Link: https://yomadic.com/stolipinovo-gypsy-ghetto/?fbclid=IwAR39YSZasAvesLgez8ITLUl_AQNSf1Tub9BFUwkP1X-ya-h59ndWWCKJSy4