Human interest stories

Language learning has played a big role in Afsaneh’s life. As an Iranian, she grew up speaking Farsi. As an adult, she became an English teacher, and on arrival in Belgrade as a refugee in 2018 she started learning Serbian. Now she is putting her language skills to...

“Stefan is the Serbian name that I adopted, and everyone now calls me by it, even my friends who came here as refugees” says Dilsad* with a twinkle in his eye and in fluent Serbian. Talking to this teenager whose smile never seems to leave his face, one would hardly...

Spring arrived and the woods we are approaching appear in bloom. It is only when we stop – a lake and a park on the one side of the road and woods on the other – that we see that these woods are dotted with cardboard and plywood houses, buzzing with...

While 3000 participants meet in Geneva for the first Global Refugee Forum to pledge measure to enhance the local integration of refugees, here in Serbia, we can already enjoy some of its results, disguised as the most delicious pizza. Recently a business staffed...

“I liked the idea from the moment they told us the issues we would learn about,” says Mustafa *one of eight young men, all asylum seekers in various municipalities of Serbia, who now hold certificates as peer trainers on a range of complex yet pertinent topics. “Back...

Mawaheb Seraj, a refugee from Syria, used his head and followed his heart to find a new life in Serbia. Never unemployed throughout his long journey, he has secured a good job in a global company. He has married a Serbian artist, the woman of his dreams. And the cat...

Sami Rasuli aimed for Italy but Serbia is giving him the practical grounding he needs for a career in fashion From an early age, Sami Rasuli knew he wanted to be a fashion designer. “I watched movies and fashion shows and I loved all that,” he says. Now the...

Firash and Asadi were trying to reach Western Europe but it is Serbia that has enabled them to finish school Firash and Asadi* are taking their school leavers’ exams. “It’s a bit stressful, yeah, but that’s normal,” says Firash. “It’s good,” says Asadi. “I will get...

Shezad K. is 16.  He fled Afghanistan two years ago.  Back home, he witnessed his family perish before his eyes, and after many years of struggling on his own in the unsafe streets of his hometown, had to flee to seek international protection.  On arrival to Serbia,...