Protest in Banjaluka: Parents of children with disabilities receive 350 BAM less than in FBiH

"We’ll come here every day, we won’t give up. We didn’t choose to have children who cannot survive without our help. We’re only asking for our right, to end discrimination. Only we and our children know how much struggle is needed," said Bobana Miljevic, a mother from Laktasi, one of the parents who lost caregiver status, according to Radio Free Europe.

The key demand from the protest is that every parent of a child with 100% physical impairment be granted the right to the status of “parent-caregiver” with a monthly allowance of 650 BAM, regardless of whether the child attends an educational institution.

They claim that more than 200 families in the BiH's Republika Srpska (RS) entity, raising children with developmental difficulties, have lost this right — most often because their child attends school, despite the fact that these are children with a complete need for constant care.

Parents point out that due to school attendance, assessment commissions determine that the child does not have a permanent impairment, even though the conditions in question are lifelong and rare illnesses such as autism.

They emphasize that this is a case of discrimination against both parents and children, and that it must be eliminated from the Child Protection Law, which has been in force in RS since 2020. They stressed that a child’s right to education is a constitutional right and must not affect the rights of parents.

At the protest, a demand was also read for caregiver parents to receive a permanent, not time-limited, allowance, and for pension and health insurance contributions to be paid along with the allowance — which is currently not the case.

Additionally, parents are asking that caregiver status be retained even after the child turns 30, specifically that the age limit prescribed by law be abolished.

Representatives of parent associations also announced that they have launched a petition to amend the law, and that they will submit the petition along with an official request to abolish discriminatory provisions.

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Republika Srpska told Radio Free Europe earlier that this is not about revoking the rights of caregiver parents, but about the "consistent application of the law." It stated that the right to be a "caregiver parent" is foreseen for children who require full-day care exclusively in home settings, and thus cannot be granted if the child attends school or a day-care center.

According to the Ministry’s statement to RFE, in February of this year, 454 recipients were receiving the allowance in the amount of 650 KM.

Meanwhile, in the other BiH entity, the Federation (FBiH) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as of this year, “caregiver parents” receive a monthly allowance of 1,000 KM.

Furthermore, caregiver parents in the Federation of BiH, in addition to the prescribed allowance, have pension and health insurance contributions paid on their behalf.