Ombudsman Institution Launches Investigation as KS Government Fails to Pay Remaining Funds for Youth Housing Subsidies

(Patria) - Young people in Sarajevo Canton, dissatisfied with last year's subsidies for apartment purchases from the KS Government, have also approached the Institution of Ombudsmen for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

They are demanding the payment of the remaining promised subsidy amounts from the Government to resolve their housing issues. The KS Assembly also passed a conclusion on June 10th, "ordering" the KS Government to allocate an additional 5.5 million KM for resolving the housing needs of young people.

Today, they informed the public that the Ombudsman Institution is launching an investigation due to the non-implementation of the Assembly's conclusions.

- Unfortunately, we realized that our problem could not be resolved civilly, correctly, and honestly. Had there been a sincere approach from the KS Government, the subsidy issue would have been settled long ago, and young people would have continued their lives with the support of a system that would have shown responsibility towards them and their independence.

In this struggle, which has already lasted a year, against an unjust system, we have experienced both support and obstruction from the authorities. We have never witnessed a situation where young people protest for a year, and none of the responsible parties offer them a concrete helping hand or make a sincere attempt to resolve the problem they have been placed in. Those who declaratively advocate for European values and social justice have shown an irresponsible, ignorant, and arrogant attitude, leaving us with the feeling that we live in a system reminiscent of a dictatorship – the young people state in their announcement.

Therefore, as they add, they were forced to turn to the Institution of Ombudsmen of BiH.

- The focus of the investigation is the non-implementation of the KS Assembly's conclusions, which ordered the Government to rectify the injustice towards recipients of reduced subsidies and to pay the difference up to the amount that was the practice in all previous years.
Young people call the KS Government to account. If we must be responsible and professional in our jobs, we expect the same from you. The KS Prime Minister and the relevant ministers are not "rulers," but our employees; their task is to manage the budget, which belongs to the citizens, transparently and fairly – they emphasized.

They then reminded that the funds for subsidies are not their personal money, but our common budget, and that these funds must be distributed in accordance with the adopted strategy, without undermining the standards of previous years.

- If the injustice is not rectified, it will be recorded that previous governments implemented better social policies, with a greater focus on young people and encouraging birth rates. Our struggle will not stop, because this injustice has strengthened the defiance and determination of more than 1,000 families. The KS Government must take responsibility and fulfill its promises – they conclude.