Bosnia and Herzegovina introduces new law protecting people with disabilities

There is systemic discrimination and life on the edge of poverty. These words are used by people with disabilities to describe their position in Bosnia and Herzegovina BiH on the International Day of Disabled Persons, December 3, 2018.

In 2010, BiH ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but in practice not much has been done to protect and eliminate discrimination.

The laws classify people with disabilities into three categories and deepen the gap between them due to the great difference in the rights they exercise.

Elvir Cesko from Sarajevo is the father of an 11-year-old boy with autism. The boy has been assessed as 100% disabled and needs 24 hour care and assistance.

The budget of the Federation of BiH FBiH in the amount of 380 BAM isn't enough to cover a portion of the costs for all the necessary therapies.

The father of the boy fears that the new law will reduce the already low income.

The federal law says that people with autism and intellectual disabilities will be classified in a category with a lower degree of disability.

The government of the FBiH, during the establishment of the law, announced at the beginning of October that the protection of persons with disabilities will be improved in this way.

The Union of Persons with Disabilities and the Organization of Persons with Disabilities in BiH believe that the law represents a trap. They assess that the proposed increase in benefits is minimal, bearing in mind the increase in the cost of living. Radio Slobodna Evropa writes that there is a danger that many will lose their previous rights behind the whole story.