Supported projects

PUNJAB - For years, the focus has been on men from Punjab who get trafficked to Europe, which is also colloquially known as Kabootar Baazi. This investigation by Journalismfund's grantees reveal how Punjabi women are increasingly being trafficked by travel agents from India, but due to the social ...

KABUL - This investigation sheds a light on the scale of abuse that Afghan women face when attempting to reach Europe. Those without documents or money are vulnerable to trafficking by unscrupulous smugglers who exploit the situation.

ODEMIRA - Changing migration patterns mean that more Nepalis are now travelling to western Europe via dangerous, illegal routes in the hopes of obtaining residence in a European country like Portugal. 

GOMBE - Is return an answer to racism? Youth worker, activist and opinion maker Don Pandzou (34), a Belgian youngster with Congolese roots, finds out. Growing up in Belgium was not an easy experience for Don. Racism and discrimination left emotional scars.

BUCHAREST - Facing an acute labor shortage and a drastic decrease in population, Romania has allowed tens of thousands of South and East Asian workers, from Vietnam, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, into the country. The investigation is following the path of Vietnamese and Indians workers ...

ANKARA - One image that will undoubtedly mark 2021 is that of the tens of thousands of desperate Afghans drumming outside the closed gates of Kabul airport to get away. The borders were sealed tight, yet hundreds of thousands of Afghans managed to flee. A number of them reached Turkey in the hope of ...

ANTWERPEN - In 2017, Francis Njotea is rushed to hospital. He is in a coma for a week. When he wakes up, confused, he shares a secret with his son Raf. That contrary to what his children and ex-wife have always thought, he is not 63 but 73 years old. He later dismisses his claim as a hallucination ...

DHAKA - Faced with poverty and lack of opportunities, young Bangladeshis often dream of a better life in Europe that will allow them to provide for their families. Dalaals or ‘travel agents’ encourage and capitalise upon these hopes. Among those that take the risky journey to Italy known as 'the ...

SAMOS-KOS - This cross-border, independent investigation focuses on the newly opened 'closed controlled access centre' on the island of Samos. It is the first "pilot project of the European Union" and opened on 18 September 2021. It was financed entirely (43 million euros) by an EU Commission fund ...

MELILLA - The Spanish enclave of Melilla, geographically part of Africa, politically part of the European Union, is located on Morocco's northern coast. The border between the continents here consists of a triple fence with countless pits and guard posts.

ERBIL - What is the involvement of Belgian jihadists in the genocide that IS carried out against the Jezidi community? Now that the Belgian parliament has acknowledged the genocide, Brenda Stoter Boscolo and Bruno Struys went to Iraqi Kurdistan with that question in mind. They talked to official ...

LUXEMBOURG - Migrants are victims of mistreatment and exploitation by their relatives and friends in the heart of Europe. This story shows how in Luxembourg some of the poorest migrants face injustice which needs to be exposed and addressed.

BRUSSELS - The thirty glorious years after the Second World War, that manic period of reconstruction and economic boom, have been decisive for the Belgium of today. The whole country was turned upside down. New jobs, habits and ideas replaced the old ones. At the end of those triumphant decades ...

SERREKUNDA - Irregular migration from West Africa to the Spanish Canary Islands has risen from 2,700 boat refugees in 2019 to over 23,000 in 2020. This has caused a great deal of social and political concern. 

ANKARA - Turkey has been using its vast presence in Europe and official institutions such as mosques, consulates and institutions in an effort to track its dissidents using covert Turkish intelligence activities.

SAMOS - The harrowing conditions in the hotspots of the Greek islands of Lesbos, Samos and Chios have created a mental health crisis. Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and self-harm are the most common mental health problems reported by NGOs in the field.

ANTWERP - The 40-year war in Afghanistan is pushing more and more Afghans to become refugees. Their numbers are also increasing in Belgium. In the port city of Antwerp, Afghans have become the fifth largest nationality group. Gie Goris went to Antwerp and listened to older and younger, male and ...

TRIPOLI - How much do illegal immigrants suffer from smuggling networks? How do the illegal immigrants get in contact with the smugglers? What is the role of the international community in curbing the spread of this business? Investigative journalist Mahmoud Elsobky searched for answers to these ...

PUYUELO - Only 15.8% of the total population still lives in the so-called Empty Spain, which covers just over half of the interior of the country. While Spanish cities have doubled or even tripled in size over the past century, the population in the interior of the country has barely increased.

STOCKHOLM - In Sweden there are more than 200,000 Syrians. They are considered to be the largest immigrant Arabic-speaking community in that country. The Swedish tourist bureaus provide services to transport a large number of Syrians to their home countries.

BRUSSELS - In the heart of Brussels, a stone's throw from the Parliament and the Royal Palace, nearly 100 West African migrants occupy a squat. Divided into seven bedrooms. For six years now.

SARAJEVO - On April 13 2020, the number of deaths due to the Coronavirus in Italy exceeded 20,000. That same afternoon, Saeed carefully packed his bag in the migrant camp of Lipa, Bosnia. Three portable charging batteries, a box of cigarettes, a sleeping bag, and a picture of his two children back ...

GEZNAKH - Atra is a documentary about Alexandro Yaramis' search for roots. He travels through former North Mesopotamia. He crosses Assyrian settlements that are in the middle of the conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK. When he hears that a church is being built in his father's village ...

More than 70% of the members of criminal groups detained and convicted are foreigners themselves. That is, citizens of other countries who have residence permits in Ukraine. Foreign students or seasonal workers are involved in transporting their compatriots to the European Union. 

BRUSSELS - This story tells how European border and migration policy is making life difficult for people on the Balkan route. Officially, the route is closed, but this research shows how it is still active.

KATHMANDU - As countries in Eastern Europe increasingly face the problem of lack of workforce, they are turning to a new source of workers – Asian countries, especially Nepal. But often those workers are abused on the way during their journey to Europe and exploited in the destination countries ...

ISTANBUL - This investigation blows the whistle on the phenomenon of brokers who, with the complicity of Turkish civil servants, help to move forward the citizenship applications of Syrians in return for bribes. On the other hand, more than five thousand Syrians’ files remained pending until they ...

BOURBON-LANCY - On the 1st of August Tom Ysewijn leaves Ghent with his bicycle to Lisbon. His route runs along the "outlying areas", places in the countryside in France, Spain and Portugal that are becoming more and more depopulated. During this tour, which can be followed via MO*, he goes in search ...

ANKARA - Turkish communities living in Europe were affected politically by the 15 July 2016 unsuccessful coup d’état.  At least twenty-three Turkish citizens, political opponents of Erdogan, were abducted by the authorities of Bulgaria, Moldova, Kosovo, Ukraine, and Serbia and sent back to Turkey ...

BRUSSELS - We call them transmigrants. Also known as 'illegals'. Almost a swear word. Caroline van Gastel and Saar Van Eyck shed light on the harsh daily reality of a number of young women in Brussels. They come from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan where the regime oppresses the population and conflicts ...