VALUABLE EXPERIENCE FOR INTERNS FROM THE RANKS OF ETHNIC MINORITIES

15. January 2015.

Belgrade - Ten interns with the Albanian, Roma and Bosniak backgrounds got the chance to see how state institutions really operate. However, rare are those who, after completing their internships, get employed in their local self-governments.

Arber Arifi is from Presevo. Now he is doing his master studies in law, whereas almost a year ago he began to learn the Serbian language in order to be able to do internship in one of the Republican Institutions. He was given the opportunity at the Ministry of Health, where he, as a lawyer, examines how regulations could be better applied.

“The very name of the state institution attracts great attention ", says Mr. Arifi. He emphasizes that that was a chance for him to see how the system of state administration operated.

Edic Santic, a psychologist from Prijepolje, says that his internship experience resembles the process of finding out how the magician performs a trick.

Majda Lubara, a graduate lawyer from Novi Pazar, says that her experience is quite different from what she imagined it would be while she was a student. Aaccording to her, practice is quite different, as people “give life” to matters.

Ivan Durmisevic, a teacher from Lebane, says that he could help his environment by performing workshops and using contacts with the people he had met.

Edin Santic, a psychologist, says that he has an idea about how to do psychological counseling aimed at a group of people who have undergone some forms of discrimination.

“On a personal level, I think that all of us will feel a little bit more self-esteem because we are young ambassadors of our local self – governments. These experiences can be easily implemented in our communities”, says Amra Muhotic, a doctoral law student from Prijepolje.

Interest is a great compliment for the program - this year, eight students applied for one vacancy. The hard part for those who are admitted occurs when the internship is completed.

“Unfortunately, the bad experience is that their knowledge and skills aren’t sufficiently used, since most of these young people, when they complete the program, can’t even find jobs in their local self-governments”, says Suzana Paunovic, the Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights.

According to her, a very small number of interns are hired by the National Councils. “We try to find a sustainable solution for them through some other projects ", says Ms. Paunovic.

While looking for a solution, and the young interns have high hopes for the future administration, one problem remains. There are no records of how many members of national minorities are represented in state institutions, even they themselves don’t want to talk about it. The assessment of the Office for Human and Minority Rights is that their number is insufficient.

Source: Serbian Broadcasting Corporation and Coordination Body