Ian Urbina | Photo: Eric T. White
Best international reporting in any medium dealing with human rights
AWARD DATE: 2021
AWARD NAME: The Joe and Laurie Dine Award 2021
AWARD RECIPIENTS: The New Yorker, in collaboration with the Outlaw Ocean Project
AWARD RECIPIENT AFFILIATION: Ian Urbina
AWARD HONORED WORK: “The Secretive Prisons That Keep Migrants Out of Europe”
AWARD SPONSOR: Philip Dine
At great personal risk, Ian Urbina exposed the horrors of Libyan detention camps where African migrants are held as they attempt to travel to Europe. Through a tacit and unsavory agreement, the European Union essentially pays Libya to catch and imprison the migrants so that Europe does not have to face problems on their borders. The result is a network of semi-hidden camps run by different Libyan militias where migrants are beaten, tortured, sexually abused, sometimes randomly shot at and denied basic rights that should be guaranteed under international migration agreements. Urbina’s arrest, described in the middle of the article, adds drama to his searing and unforgettable long-form piece.
Link to the winning work: “The Secretive Prisons That Keep Migrants Out of Europe”
Citation for Excellence:
Raffi Khatchadourian, Ben Mauk, Sam Wolson and Matt Huynh
The New Yorker with support from the Pulitzer Center
Xinjiang Package: “Ghost Walls” and “Reeducated” video and interactive