The Public Defender sent a letter of invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Ms. Leilani Farha. The reason for the invitation is examination of violations of individual and broader, systematic violations of the right to adequate housing, their legal assessment and identification of response mechanisms.

In the letter the Public Defender talks about the systemic problems of the protection of rights of homeless persons in the state. In particular, it has not yet been developed an action plan for overcoming the problem of homelessness; there are no databases for homeless persons, due to which their real number is unknown; the definition of a homeless person at the national level does not cover all persons the right to adequate housing applies to by international standards.

The letter describes the problematic aspects of forced eviction and the restrictions imposed on the vulnerable groups intruded into state facilities, which forbids them from enjoying minimal social assistance. The letter also talks about the lack of financial resources allocated from central and local government budgets for assistance of homeless persons.

The visits of the Special Rapporteur to the country are an important tool, which allow the mandate holder to give an overall assessment of human rights situation, as well as of institutional, legal, judicial and administrative situation in the country. During the visit, she meets with representatives of the Government, non-governmental organizations and civil society, as well as victims of human rights violations, groups of the United Nations agencies in the country, representatives of academic and diplomatic circles, and the media, in order to develop recommendations, which are then published in the form of public reports. Holders of mandates of special procedures also hold news conferences and publish preliminary assessments at the end of the visits.

The Public Defender’s Office hopes that in case of successful cooperation with the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, the efforts of the Government and other parties will become more effective, which will untimely be reflected in the improvement of the situation of the homeless persons throughout the country.