How do I enter?
Write your article
The theme of the article is 'Refugees in Europe'. The feature must be based on fact - not an opinion piece or commentary.
Refugees is a legal term referring to people who have satisfied the description of a refugee under the 1951 Geneva
Convention. The numbers of convention refugees in Europe have been falling in the last few years. However, the
number of people in Europe in need of protection has not. Applicants should feel free to interpret 'refugees' in this broader
sense, for example including forced migrants from outside Europe who escape hunger and destitution, but do not necessarily qualify for legal refugee status.     
The article should not exceed 1200 words.
The article should not have been published previously.
Help with writing the article - where do I start? 
The article can be submitted in any European language. Our judges include native speakers of  English, French, Italian,
     Dutch and German. However, an English translation must also be submitted.
The article should be submitted in the font Times New Roman, the size should be 12pt.

Submit your entry
Your article must be received by JRS Europe by14:00 hours on 21st March 2006. You must also send or fax a hard copy of the entry form, signed in the place indicated. 

1. Email the following to Alice Kennedy See contact details...
   Your article in the original language
   The English language version of the article (if appropriate)
   The completed entry form
    
2. Send or Fax a hard copy of the following to Alice Kennedy See contact details...
   The completed entry form signed by the applicant, as indicated on the form.
     
Receive email confirmation that JRS has received your article
    You will be sent confirmation that we have received your article by email within a few days. If you do not have this
      confirmation by the deadline (21st March), contact us by telephone.

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How will the competition be judged, and by who?
The judges will be looking for:
Relevance to the theme "Refugees in Europe" (more on theme...)
An attempt to investigate the reality of the situation of refugees in Europe
Originality of subject

There will be six judges making the selection. The top three prize winners will meet them in April. They include the following:

Koen Vidal, De Morgen, Belgium
Since 2001 Koen Vidal has been a foreign and political correspondent with De Morgen, a Belgian newspaper specialising in human rights issues. Educated in Belgium and London, he joined De Morgen in 1995 and has worked as the political, European and African correspondent. In 1999 he published On the doorstep of Europe, a book about refugees entering the EU through Spain, France and Italy. He has been nominated for numerous press-awards including one for travel articles about refugees in Europe, and another for an article on the survivors of the Rwandan genocide living in Belgium.

Jean-Paul Marthoz
Jean Paul Marthoz is editorial director of the Brussels-based global affairs quarterly Enjeux Internationaux, a regular columnist for Belgian daily Le Soir and the chair of GRIP (Group of Investigation and Information on Peace and Security). He was the international media director for Human Rights Watch for nine years; the head of foreign affairs on the daily Belgian newspaper Le Soir, and set up and directed the International Federation of Journalists' ‘Media for democracy in Africa’ programme. He has written or co-written 20 books on Journalism and international issues, including Vive le Journalism (Complexe, 1994) and Et Maintenant, le monde en bref: politique, étrangère, journalisme global et libertés (Grip-Complexe, 1999),

He has worked and advised on issues of migration and racism and the media for the Council of Europe, the Media Diversity Institute (London), Unesco, the Panos Paris Institute and the King Baudouin Foundation.

Maria Tarantino
Maria Tarantino is a freelance journalist working in Brussels. She contributes to Il Manifesto, Diario della Settimana and De Morgen. She presented the documentary series  "The World of Tarantino" on Canvas, in which she often dealt with refugees and immigration. In the last four years she has been presenting a weekly program on TV Brussel, about the cultural diversity of the city and the people - often immigrants and asylum seekers - contributing to it. 

This team will also be advised by:
Rik de Gendt (editor of Jesuits in Europe)

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Rules

1. The competition is open to all matriculated students who are studying at an institute of Higher Education in a member state of the Council of Europe, or those who have graduated from such an institute in the last twelve months. All applicants must reside in a member state of the Council of Europe.*  
2. Applicants must be prepared to provide evidence of the above status on request.
3. Applicants should be available to make a trip to Kenya before the 1st October 2006.
4. Articles must not exceed 1200 words
5. The words must be the sole original work of the applicant
6. Articles submitted must be previously unpublished.
7. Articles should be written in Times New Roman font, and the size of the font should be 12pt
8. The articles entered will be judged by an independent panel, comprising of well-known journalists
9. The articles will be assessed on their relevance to the theme “Refugees in Europe”; their attempt to investigate the reality of the situation of forced migrants in Europe; and the originality of the subject.
10. The panel’s decision is final and may not be appealed.
11. The panel will not enter into any correspondence regarding the judging of the competition
12. The panel may decide not to award all of the prizes
13. The panel may decide to award an honorable mention
14. The panel reserves the right to withdraw an award where an entry does not comply with these rules.
15. There will be no cash prize alternative.
16. Copyright for all competition submissions will be held by JRS.
17. JRS reserve the right not to circulate any article if the content is deemed not to be appropriate. Any decision made by JRS in this regard is final.
18. JRS will provide full travel insurance for those applicants awarded visits to Brussels and/or Kenya; however, JRS cannot be held responsible for the security of any applicant during his or her travel to or from, or stay in, either country. All applicants travel at their own risk.
19. It is free to enter the competition.
20. The article must be submitted by email, and a hard copy of the entry form must be sent by fax or post before 1400 on 21st March 2006.
21. Applicants must ensure that they include their name in full; postal address; email address; and details of the institute at which they are studying or have studied on the entry form. 
22. The emailed article should be accompanied by the following material:
              -the completed entry form;
              -the English translation of the article (if applicable);
             and should be sent to Alice Kennedy. See contact details...
23. The completed entry form should also be faxed or posted, signed, as indicated on the form,
    to Alice Kennedy. See contact details...               
24. Applicants should receive email confirmation that JRS has received their application within a few days of both the electronic version and the hard copy being received. It is the applicants’ responsibility to contact JRS-Europe if they have not received this confirmation by 14:00 hours on 21st March 2006.

* Member States of the Council of Europe: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzogovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

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