A ten-member family S was forcibly relocated from Leskovac to Aleksinac after the fire in which their shack they had lived in for past few years burned down.

The family lost their personal documents in the fire, and therefore Police Department Leskovac inactivated their addresses. The reason for this was the fact that the family did not live at the address where they had their permanent residence registered, and had nowhere to stay in the territory of Leskovac and was thus without an opportunity to register permanent residence at the address of social welfare centre. In addition, CSR Leskovac suspended them the right to cash social assistance declaring that it had no territorial jurisdiction, and due to the fact that one member of the family had permanent residence registered in the Municipality of Aleksinac, CSR organized their relocation. Due to the lack of adequate cooperation between competent institutions and insufficient capacities at their disposal, the family S did not receive adequate reception in the new community. It is important to emphasize that the family had not been consulted in regard to whether they wanted to move to Aleksinac, which is contrary to all international standards.

The family has been residing for several months already in one room without basic living conditions, given to them by a relative, which endangers their health. With the help of SWC Aleksinac, the procedures for registration of permanent residence were initiated and are still ongoing. In the meantime, none of the family members has an ID card, four children interrupted their regular education, and they will be able to exercise their right to social protection only when they register permanent residence and obtain ID cards.

The case of this family shows all deficiencies of the social protection system. The state of social needs in which this family has been for long has worsened severely and led the family into the problem of multiple social exclusion. Now, the way out of this situation is far more complex, the consequences suffered by the family members unforeseeable and damage is irreparable.