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The Winners: Writing About Refugees,
a Competition for Student Journalists
Prizes awarded to Danish, Irish / French and
British student journalists
First Prize trip to Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya
MEPs present prizes in European Parliament
At 2pm on April the 18th 2006 at a prize-giving ceremony
at the European Parliament, the Jesuit Refugee Service
announced the winners of the competition for student
journalists they have run across Europe. Copies of the
articles were available at the ceremony, and can also be
obtained from JRS Europe. Interviews with the
prize-winners can also be arranged.
The winners, decided by a panel of professional
journalists, are Kasper Tveden Jensen, studying in
Denmark, for his article 'Suicidal Silence'; Hélène
Hofman, studying in Ireland, for her article 'Waiting to
Check Out'; and Kirsty Whalley, studying in the United
Kingdom, for her article 'Destitute Zimbawean Asylum
Seekers Stuck in Limbo in the United Kingdom'. Kasper
Tveden Jensen, as winner of the first prize, will be
invited this summer to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, as
the guest of JRS |
The 2005/6 JRS Europe competition for student
journalists is now finished. The winners have been
chosen and have been invited to Brussels and Kenya.
Watch this space for details on the next edition.
Click
here for information on the competition
Click here
for a copy of the jury report
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Eastern Africa. The ceremony was hosted
Hiltrud Breyer MEP (Greens). Presenting the first prize
was Danish MEP Britta Thomsen (PSE). Apart from the
prize-winners themselves, also present were journalists
who were members of the jury, and sponsors of the
competition.
Third prize-winner Kirsty Whalley was unable to collect
her prize in Brussels: a Zimbabwean student journalist
whose family moved to Britain five years ago because of
the political situation in the country, she is having
problems getting her Zimbabwean passport renewed. This
is partly because she is a journalist. Instead she
received her prize in London on 9th May at the offices
of ECRE (European Council on Refugees and Exiles).
The jury of four journalists were impressed with the
approach and quality of the entries, that came from 12
countries: “By highlighting aspects of refugees in
Europe that are usually marginalized, the articles
opened up the angle of the camera on this issue. Above
all they raised the profile of the humanity of the
people who ask for refuge in Europe,” said Jean-Paul
Marthoz, journalist member of the jury and former
international media director for Human Rights Watch.
The ‘Writing about Refugees’ Competition saw the Jesuit
Refugee Service inviting aspiring journalists across
Europe to investigate the reality behind the headlines
by asking them to write an article of no more than 1200
words on the theme ‘Refugees in Europe’. The competition
was open to all matriculated students of higher
education in a member state of the council of Europe.
To obtain copies of the articles or for more information, please
contact Ben Holbourn, Media Officer,
JRS-Europe, Rue du Progres 333, First Floor, Bruxelles
1030, Belgium Tel: +32 2 250 32 20, Email: press.europe(a)jrs.net
, substituting (a) for @. For more information on
the prize, see www.jrseurope.org |
