Bosnian Serbs Slash Funds For Muslim, Catholic, Charities

The Muslim charity Merhamet, as well as Caritas Banja Luka, the Catholic relief organisation, will receive far less funding in 2019, according to the draft version of the Republika Srpska budget.

Data about the budget for 2019, which the RS government should adopt once it is formed in December, as Zeljka Cvijanovic, RS President announced, show that Merhamet received 100,000 euros in 2018, which might fall to 65,000 euros next year.

Caritas' finding will be cut in half. Next year it will receive 25,000 euros, down from 50,000 euros this year.

"The government should have better understanding of the most vulnerable groups in this entity as some 600 families rely on our public kitchens," Jasmin Spahic, from Merhamet in RS, told BIRN.

Spahic said four public kitchens in Banja Luka area are already facing difficulties in funding and Merhamet offers different forms of help, not just through kitchens, regardless of the faith and nationality of the users.

"We can only rely on good and generous people and on their donations to maintain our work," Spahic said, adding that he has no idea why the government made this decision.

BIRN asked the Ministry of Finance of Republika Srpska to comment on its decision but received no answer by the time of publication.

Merhamet Bosnia is an NGO that provides material assistance to returnees, the poor and seriously ill, immobile people, and marginalised communities.

Its main focus is public kitchens, four of them in Republika Srpska, that feed those in need, regardless of their ethnicity or faith.

Caritas in Republika Srpska is a branch of Caritas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is a charitable institution of the Catholic Church.

Caritas Bosnia and Herzegovina is a full member...