On September 28, journalist Michalis Michael took to his personal Facebook account to denounce the Social Welfare Services for their indifference and absence.
He was referring to the case of a 55-year-old man with Down syndrome who could no longer be cared for by his 92-year-old father, who had dementia, and his mother, who was over 80 and looking after both her husband and her son, pushing herself to the brink of collapse.
As Michael wrote, for more than six months, repeated requests were made for a welfare officer to visit the family to assess the situation and find a solution.
After much persistence, they were promised a visit in September, but by the 28th, this promise had not been fulfilled.
Yesterday, Michael announced the death of his brother, the man with Down syndrome. He passed away, relieving the services of their responsibilities.
Yesterday, the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights also addressed the behaviour of the Social Welfare Services (and other state services), prompted by a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling in a case involving a mother who had court-ordered custody of her two children, yet her ex-husband alienated them from her.
Even when the father was imprisoned twice for disobeying court orders, the children were not returned to their mother but were placed in a children’s shelter.
Before reaching the ECHR, the mother “knocked” on every door in the country. She sent a total of 256 letters to various services.
Yet, even after the ECHR ruling, the authorities did nothing to restore the relationship between the children and their mother.
And while this issue was set to be discussed in Parliament yesterday, neither the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare nor the Director of Social Welfare Services felt the need to attend and explain their stance.
A few days ago, a disabled former prisoner of war died in an accident, which might have been prevented if the state services had helped him replace the vehicle he used for mobility, as the President of the Republic had promised him. A promise that was not kept.
Of course, it wasn’t the President himself who was expected to buy the vehicle, but certain services were supposed to take care of it.
These services, however, are not only absent, as journalist Michael pointed out, but they also show disdain for citizens, who don’t know where to turn for help.