My name is Nina Čović, and I am a senior at BASIS Phoenix High School. This blog will be dedicated to the Senior Research Project that I am conducting during my final trimester of high school, "The Refugees of Serbia: How the Government & Independent Organizations Are Working to Aide the Recent Migrant Influx". I am very excited for the opportunity to delve into this subject during my 10 week internship with Tomislav Djordjević at the Ministry of Defense, of the Republic of Serbia, in Eastern Europe, and I hope that you will join me on this journey!
Everyone has seen news about the masses of refugees fleeing from the SW Asian region, referred to as the "Middle East". Whether it's in the form of political op-eds, economic projections, or striking photographs. When coming across these, I always felt that there was more to the story than merely what I was reading. It felt wrong to read about human beings as statistics and generalizations. That is where my research project comes in!
My project aims to explore through which avenues and to what extent the Serbian government and independent organizations are working to aid the refugees in their efforts to continue their journeys further into Europe. The top issue every country has raised is national security, in the face of possible religious radicalization of incoming migrants; this is how my internship with the Ministry of Defense will address the governmental point of view within my project. The independent bodies I intend to involve in my research are The United Nations Refugee Agency, The Red Cross of Serbia, as well as journalists and private citizens.
You can view my project proposal here.
I am extremely passionate about human rights and international diplomatic relations, therefore the hands on experience that I will be gaining during my project is greatly beneficial for my intended major (International Relations), and future career paths.
I hope that you will follow along!
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| The crest of the Ministry of Defense, Republic of Serbia. |
Nina, I think your topic is incredibly interested and very heart-felt! What are your plans going forward? In other words, how are you hoping to gather the information needed to answer your question about how the government is working? Are you going to pull information from just officials/reporters like mentioned in your post or will you also be able to talk to the refugees themselves?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to learning more!
I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner! I plan to interview government officials, at my internship with the Ministry, and reach out those working on behalf of independent organizations for interviews as well. However, I really want to see how all of these efforts have manifested, so I will visit with refugees for a first-hand observation of the effects.
DeleteHi Nina! Your project sounds awesome. I remember you mentioned possibly working with refugees? Also, what are you going to be doing at the Ministry? I am very intrigued!
ReplyDeleteAnd definitely tell us about the food, too!
I'm apologize for the delayed response. I indent to regularly visit the locations where the refugees are living during their time in Serbia, however, due to safety concerns, I can only go there accompanied and at certain times during the day. The Ministry will sort act as a "home base" for me. I will not be there daily, as my mentor travels often for work, but when I visit with the refugees, for instance, I will be accompanied by someone who works at the Ministry for security purposes. In other words, they provide me with everything I need to conduct my project in the safest and most straightforward way possible.
DeleteHi Nina!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing news of your endeavors. :-) I hope you will also share some of the pictures that you take.
P.S. I'll make sure your yearbook is waiting for you when you get back.