The One World Awards, one of the leading international prizes for journalism on global justice and human rights, received 534 entries from more than 140 countries this year. Following a judging process involving over 60 industry experts from 20 countries, three finalists were selected in each of the prize's 14 categories. Among them is Scrap Wars: How Child Labour and Conflict Feed Turkey's Steel Boom, a year-long cross-border investigation supported by Journalismfund Europe, shortlisted in the Freelance Investigative Journalism Award category.
The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at Ham Yard Theatre, London, on 17 June 2026.
The shortlisted investigation
"Scrap Wars: How Child Labour and Conflict Feed Turkey's Steel Boom" Sofia Cherici, Andrés Mourenza, Mohammed Bassiki, Doğu Eroğlu, Richard Salame, Andrea Glioti, Jonathan Cole - The New Arab, co-published with SIRAJ and El País
Turkey is the world's largest importer of scrap metal, a raw material central to its recycled steel industry. This year-long investigation reveals the hidden origins of that scrap: a shadow trade connecting conflict zones across Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Ukraine, and Gaza to Turkish steel mills — and, ultimately, to European supply chains.
Working across multiple countries, the team combined shipping data, satellite imagery, OSINT analysis, and field reporting — including documents recovered from abandoned Assad-era checkpoints — to prove that militias, warlords, and even Bashar al-Assad's presidential palace profited from the trade. Child labourers collected scrap among rubble and unexploded ordnance. Sanctioned vessels carried the cargo. In December 2024, Lebanon's cabinet banned scrap metal imports from Syria following the investigation's publication.
Published in The New Arab, SIRAJ, and El País
More info: oneworldmedia.org.uk/awards/2026-shortlist/
