BRUSSELS - Around 50,000 people are currently homeless in our country. We know they are there, and we seem to have come to terms with their situation. But why, exactly? Why is homelessness so low on the political agenda? Why are we failing to get these people off the streets? Are homeless people no ...
SYRACUSE – The strictest European migration policy ever came into force in June. Through the Return Regulation, the EU is expanding its cooperation with third countries even further. NGOs have long been witnessing the human impact of externalisation policies, whereby border controls are outsourced ...
The Green Mineral Straining the Kalahari Basin and Its People
HOTAZEL - Demand for manganese, a critical mineral for the green transition, has surged in recent years. But in South Africa’s Kalahari basin, home to the world’s largest reserves and a major direct supplier to Europe, mining is depleting and contaminating underground water sources that local ...
In a quarter of Flemish municipalities, citizens are not allowed to speak
POLINKHOVE / ANTWERP – Every Flemish citizen has the right to add a question or a proposal to the municipal council’s agenda. Research by Apache shows that around a quarter of Flemish towns and municipalities do not have regulations setting out the conditions for doing so.
ZUGDIDI - The 250-kilometre border between Abkhazia and Georgia has been dividing the two countries for decades, making life increasingly difficult for the communities living along it. Caught between Russian pressure and the manoeuvrings of the ruling Georgian Dream party, those living near the ...
Nothing But Victims: Modern Slavery Behind Cybercrime
AMSTERDAM / MAE SOT - A message on Instagram: "Hi darling. I’ve been thinking about you a lot today… Are you thinking of me too?" It's a typical scam. But these scammers are victims themselves, often lured by false promises and imprisoned in scam centres in Southeast Asia.
KAMPALA - Uganda has for years hosted the largest refugee population in Africa, long celebrated as a regional success story thanks to its progressive open-door policy. But sweeping global cuts to development aid, most dramatically the dismantling of USAID under Trump, have plunged that system of ...
KABUL - In the remote mountains of central Afghanistan, a Hazara family embarks on a quest for truth and justice after their daughter Zahra mysteriously dies at Kabul University.
Funding Gaps Undermining Drug Harm Reduction in Italy and Spain
BARCELONA/ BILBAO/ ROME/ TURIN - The project examined the current state of drug harm reduction programmes and services in Italy and Spain. It also assessed the impact of a fragmented financial and operational framework on the ability to provide essential healthcare and support to people who use ...
BENZDORP/PARAMARIBO - Deep in the Amazon rainforest, on the banks of the Lawa River between Suriname and French Guiana, live the Wayana. The peaceful existence of this indigenous population came to an abrupt end in 1885, when gold was discovered in the region. Since then, the presence of outsiders ...
BELGRADE/ LJUBLJANA - Leaked internal documents from the Swiss surveillance company NeoSoft reveal that Serbia’s Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) explored the purchase of a covert portable IMSI catcher known as the NS Backpack.
DUNKERQUE / PEÑA COLORADA / SANTA CRUZ - This team of journalists investigated the operations of Ternium and ArcelorMittal, two Luxembourg-based steel giants that present themselves as leaders in “sustainable” and “low-carbon” steel.
Europe’s Broken System for Reuniting Refugee Families
ATHENS / ROME - This investigation reveals that unaccompanied minors fleeing war and persecution face significant delays in family reunification due to bureaucratic inefficiencies throughout Europe.
BEIRUT - Jado is a trans woman from Beirut. A prominent figure and a motherly presence in the local LGBTQIA+ community, she is an inspiration to many. Like many others, she has to fight every day just to be herself and survive.
BRUSSELS - Life is impossible without music blends music, memory and humanity through the true stories of pianist Kosta Jakić and Simon Gronowski, a Holocaust survivor.
Europe’s Surrogacy Demand Fuelling Latin American Boom
BOGOTA - The surrogacy industry has become worth billions of dollars as demand in Europe has increased due to changing cultural attitudes and favourable legal changes. This investigation reveals the consequences of this trend on the other side of the Atlantic.
BELGRADE / SARAJEVO / ZAGREB – This investigation into obstetric practices in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina reveals that procedures are often carried out during childbirth without adequate consent or information. This results in long-lasting physical and psychological consequences for ...
TIRANA / MILANO – This cross-border investigative project focuses on researching the abuses and irregularities caused by the privatisation of immigration reception and detention centres in several countries.
BIAŁOWIEŻA - Since March, Poland has imposed an asylum ban at its border with Belarus. Officially, there are exceptions for children, pregnant women and the sick, but in practice these are systematically ignored. Only 22 people have been able to apply for asylum since then.
MARRAKESH – The aim of this investigation is to trace and shed light on the role of European funds and supplies played in strengthening the Moroccan regime's control capabilities in matters of security.
The Silent Border: Disappearances and Abuse at the New Schengen Frontier
BURGAS / SOFIA / DAMASCUS – Following Bulgaria’s 2025 Schengen accession, its border with Turkey became the EU’s migration frontier. Based on months of field reporting, this investigation reveals that Bulgarian authorities are not required by the EU to address human rights violations in this region.
The Price of Clean Streets: Deporting the Unsheltered
ROTTERDAM - Despite the vision of a borderless EU enshrined in the free movement principles of the Schengen Area, EU citizens can still be deported from their host country. The majority of intra-EU deportation cases are initiated for 'causing a nuisance', and the group most affected are unsheltered ...
BERLIN – Volkswagen needs minerals for electric cars. War-torn Congo and Sudan have them. Long supply chains and an opaque system of certifications make it likely that “conflict minerals” end up in new electric cars from the German car giant.
Behind Bars, Behind Labour: Work in European Prisons
MADRID / PARIS / BRUSSELS - This cross-border investigation examines how labour activities are organised within prisons across Europe and sheds light on the broader relationship between incarceration, exploitation and rehabilitation.
ANTWERP / AMSTERDAM - To understand how citizens weigh ethics against the law, Suzanne Roes decided to conduct research into criminalised movements above and below ground.
GULU - Since 2005, the ‘LRA’ has been expelled from Uganda. Despite an international arrest warrant, Joseph Kony is still a fugitive. President Musevini is still in power after 38 years. The majority of Uganda's population lives in poverty with no prospect of improvement. They are surviving but ...
KAJIADO — Across Europe, multinational companies are purchasing carbon credits to ‘offset’ their emissions, claiming these schemes contribute to the fight against climate change, but in Kajiado County, southern Kenya, such carbon projects are fuelling growing concern.
NEW YORK CITY / GENEVA - The West may not have fully realised it, but the United Nations is undergoing a revival. Not that everything will remain the same, because Beijing seems to be finding enough allies to change the organisation from within.
WEINSTADT / PRAGUE / TORINO / ALYTUS - Loneliness in old age is a growing but often invisible crisis across Europe. Millions of older people live in isolation, cut off from family ties and community life. The consequences go far beyond sadness: social isolation is linked to depression, dementia ...
Desegregation: Quality Education for Roma Children
CLUJ-NAPOCA / MILANO / HERMANKY - Despite repeated rulings from the European Court of Human Rights declaring the segregation of Roma children in schools a violation of human rights, segregation is increasing across Europe. This cross-border project investigates desegregation practices in the ...