Acting Ombudsperson paid a visit to the villages of Muqibabë and Lipovicë

During a visit that Acting Ombudsperson Mr. Hilmi Jashari paid to the villages of Muqibabë and Lipovicë in Gjilan/Gnjilane Municipality, he established that Kosovo institutions at a local and central level have not done anything to provide elementary living conditions for the inhabitants of this area.
“We use donkeys to carry water from a well that is located hundreds of metres away from houses of the village, whilst the well itself has insufficient water to meet the demands of inhabitants of this area ,” village resident Vehid Ibrahimi told the Acting Ombudsperson.
The village of Muqibabë, which used to have 53 families before the war, is now inhabited by only 12 families as a result of the village´s inability to develop economically as well as the negligence of government institutions towards this area of Kosovo.
Speaking of the difficult living conditions, Ajka Selimi explained that her life has been made even more difficult since her family and some other families stopped receiving social assistance.
The Ademi family lives in Lipovicë village in a room paved with concrete, with no blankets, shelter or isolation. The children´s faces, covered in insects and dirt, appear to plead for compassion to help them enjoy their basic human right : The right to a decent existence.
Acting Ombudsperson Mr. Jashari, in the presence of journalists, appealed to central and local institutions to take immediate measures in order to urgently solve the problems of inhabitants of the villages at the administrative border and stressed that authorities were under the obligation to take positive actions of intervention, an obligation emerging from international human rights standards.
This is the third visit of the Ombudsperson Institution in this area of Kosovo; the Acting Ombudsperson expressed his concerns with government institutions´ disrespect of previous recommendations.
Inhabitants of these villages have addressed not only the Ombudsperson Institution, but also the Kosovo Government and the local authorities in Gjilanë/Gnjilane. The Prime Minister´s advisor´s visit to the villages, however, has not helped to resolve the numerous problems the inhabitants face. These problems include a lack of medical treatment, education, adequate supply of potable water, road infrastructure, public transport and foods supply.

Family Ademi -Lipovica village
Acting Ombudsperson Mr. Hilmi Jashari and the Director of Investigatios Mr Veton Vula talking to Muçibaba inhabitants
Acting Ombudsperson Mr. Hilmi Jashari talking to a single mother in Muqibaba