Lost in Europe: Investigative Journalism Uncovers the Alarming Disappearance of 50,000 Unaccompanied Minor Migrants, Awarded Daphne-Caruana-Galizia-Preis 2024

Daphne Caruana Galizia Journalistic Honor 2024 Awarded for Investigations into Missing Unaccompanied Minor Migrants

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The Daphne Caruana Galizia Journalism Prize for 2024 was awarded to Lost in Europe on Wednesday in recognition of their investigative work uncovering the disappearance of over 50,000 unaccompanied child migrants.

Investigations conducted by media outlets from Germany, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and the United Kingdom revealed that between 2021 and 2023, at least 51,433 unaccompanied minor migrants vanished after arriving in European countries.

Die Präsidentin des Parlaments, Roberta Metsola, die Vizepräsidentin Pina Picierno, die für den Preis verantwortlich ist, sowie Mitglieder der unabhängigen Jury aus ganz Europa waren bei der Preisverleihung anwesend, die im Daphne-Caruana-Galizia-Pressesaal des Europäischen Parlaments in Straßburg stattfand.

Die Präsidentin des Parlaments, Metsola, äußerte: „Das Erbe von Daphne Caruana Galizia bleibt lebendig durch die Arbeit von Journalistinnen und Journalisten, die sich der Wahrheit verschrieben haben und sich nicht zum Schweigen bringen lassen. Sie setzen sich unermüdlich für Gerechtigkeit ein, selbst wenn sie bedroht werden und man versucht, sie von ihrer bedeutenden Aufgabe abzuhalten. Die Pressefreiheit steht nicht zur Debatte. Sieben Jahre nach Daphnes Ermordung ehren wir weiterhin ihr Andenken mit einem Preis, der uns daran erinnert, dass das Europäische Parlament seit langem für diese grundlegenden Werte eintritt.“

Between May 3 and August 1 of this year, hundreds of journalists from the 27 EU member countries submitted a total of 318 entries. Out of these, 13 were shortlisted, and the jury selected the winning entry from this group.

The award-winning entry

Lost in Europe hat aufgedeckt, dass seit dem Jahr 2021 täglich im Durchschnitt fast 47 Kinder nach ihrer Ankunft in Europa spurlos verschwinden.

Information gathered by Lost in Europe across 31 European countries, including Germany, Italy, and Austria, indicates that tens of thousands of underage migrants have gone missing.

Nach umfangreichen Nachforschungen deutet vieles darauf hin, dass die Zahl der vermissten minderjährigen Migranten höher ist, da die Aufzeichnungen uneinheitlich geführt werden und in manchen Staaten Daten fehlen, was zu erheblichen Lücken führt.

The latest study expands on the 2021 findings by Lost in Europe. Their research revealed that over 18,000 child migrants went missing in Europe between 2018 and 2020.

Aagje Leven, the Secretary General of Missing Children Europe, believes that the findings represent just the "tip of the iceberg." She expresses concern over the increasing number of child migrants who are going missing in Europe at a worrying rate, with fears that they may be falling prey to human trafficking and modern slavery.

The media organizations that collaborated on these investigations included De Standaard from Belgium, Small Stream Media from the Netherlands, RBB from Germany, Knack from Belgium, ANSA from Italy, Domani from Italy, CNN from the United Kingdom and USA, VRT from Belgium, Εfimerida ton Syntakton from Greece, il Fatto Quotidiano from Italy, The Journal from Ireland, Tagesschau from Germany, Zeit Online from Germany, and NRC from the Netherlands.

Concerning the Cost

The European Parliament's leadership established the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize in December 2019 to honor the Maltese investigative journalist and blogger. Daphne Caruana Galizia was dedicated to fighting corruption. In 2017, she tragically lost her life in a car bomb attack.

Annually, around October 16th, the anniversary of her assassination, exceptional contributions to journalism are recognized with an award. This honor is given to those whose work upholds and protects the core principles and values of the European Union, including human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights.

The award is available to all professional journalists and journalism teams, regardless of their nationality. Eligible submissions include journalistic works published or broadcast by media outlets in any of the 27 EU member countries. The award aims to highlight the significance of professional journalism in safeguarding freedom, equality, and opportunities for everyone.

The independent panel includes members from the press and civil society across all 27 EU member countries, along with a representative from the International Federation of Journalists.

The European Parliament demonstrates its commitment to investigative journalism and press freedom through an award valued at 20,000 EUR.

Previous Winning Entries

In 2021, the initiative known as "The Pegasus Project" was organized by Forbidden Stories.

In 2022, the documentary titled "Central Africa: The Mercenaries from Russia," created by Clément Di Roma and Carol Valade, was released through ARTE, France24, and Le Monde.

In 2023, collaborative investigations into the sinking of a refugee boat near Pylos were conducted by Solomon, in partnership with Forensis, StrgF/ARD, and The Guardian.

Who was Daphne Caruana Galizia?

Daphne Caruana Galizia war eine mutige Journalistin aus Malta, die sich auf investigative Berichterstattung spezialisiert hatte. Sie deckte Themen wie Korruption, Geldwäsche und organisierte Kriminalität auf und beleuchtete auch den Verkauf von Staatsbürgerschaften sowie die Beteiligung der maltesischen Regierung an den Panama-Papieren. Aufgrund ihrer Arbeit wurde sie eingeschüchtert und bedroht. Am 16. Oktober 2017 kam sie bei einem Autobombenanschlag ums Leben. Die Kontroversen um die Ermittlungen zu ihrem Mord führten dazu, dass der Premierminister Joseph Muscat zurücktrat. Im Dezember 2019 äußerte das Europäische Parlament scharfe Kritik an den Fehlern bei den Ermittlungen und forderte die Europäische Kommission zum Handeln auf.

Contact Information:

John SCHRANZ

Secretariat for the Daphne Caruana Galizia Journalism Prize

Thilo KUNZEMANN

Maren HÄUSSERMANN

Additional Details

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