The Scars of the Erasure_web

Erasure_4a 10.1.11 20:29 Page 130130 THE SCARS OF THE ERASUREit had lasted longer, I’d not have been able to stick it out. Because I had one job inthe afternoon, then a nightshift, the whole night until morning. And in the morninganother job, going to work elsewhere. Until four, and at four I went to work again,the same afternoon. And so on, without stopping. (Indira, 48)Some even experienced hunger, as Begeš’s son testified:My father didn’t have money, could not get his pension, so he – I was surprisedat some things – he searched in garbage bins for food. And in the stores they savedfor him the food that was past the expiration date, so they’d discard it otherwise,for example, doughnuts, yogurt, so he could take it home. (Begeš, 89)These situations show that the erased people were not protected againstpoverty but endured painful social exclusion. They could not secure on their owna standard of living for themselves and their families that would enable them tolive healthy and dignified lives, while on the other hand, owing to the absence oflegal status, they could not turn to any state body that would have been accessibleto them had they not been deprived of permanent resident status.4.5 The right to health careSince the area of health is dealt with in detail in the chapter by UršulaLipovec Čebron, we will not discuss in detail the health condition of the erasedpeople in this section. As with other rights, we will restrict ourselves to an exa -mination of how this right was respected. According to Article 12 of the ICESCR,the right to health means “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highestattainable standard of physical and mental health.” The measures taken by thesignatory states to achieve the full realization of this right include those necessaryfor the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and infant mortality and for a child’shealthy development; the improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrialhygiene; the prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic,occupational and other diseases; the creation of conditions that assure medicalservice and medical attention for all.Since the erased people were left without legal status, for many of themhealth care was inaccessible for many years. They had health insurance if theymanaged to obtain a work visa and a job, or a permanent residence permit, butif they had only a temporary residence permit, they had to pay for it from theirown pocket. Only few among them could afford to pay health insurance, becauseit was provided by commercial insurance companies, meaning that it was expensiveand therefore inaccessible to many even today, as Ekrem told us:I still don’t have health insurance regulated, as I cannot fix it without a personalID card. Before 2000 I didn’t have health problems, but then I got a serious formof diabetes. For two years I didn’t have any treatment, and then Dr. Doplihar