The most inspirational and heartbreaking European stories about immigrants

European Press Prize

Winners proved their personal courage to inform readers and viewers of the mainstream media about stories, whose should not be forgotten. About ordinary people and their extraordinary lives. And it was not easy to explain, how difficult it is to be an immigrant and how hard is to decide to flee a homeland and run for a better future.

In five categories, The Investigative Reporting Award, The Distinguished Writing Award, The Commentator Award, The Innovation Award and The Special Award. The jury choose the best European stories. It was not easy, because they were all quite unique. I will introduce you to some of them.

The Innovation Award category won a reportage about five Portuguese Members of Islamic State. A really powerful story Killing and Dying for Allah produced by Portuguese journalists Raquel Moleiro, Hugo Franco and Joana Beleza.

"Edgar, Celso, Fábio, Patrício e Funa are five of the Portuguese jihadists who are in Syria and whose steps Expresso followed. They are the main characters of the web documentary Expresso produced on the Portuguese in Jihad, to which are added other secondary characters. You can see them over the four chapters of this work (Killing and Dying, Jihadists, Londonistan and The Killing Fields), which begins at the Portuguese Café Cascais, in Leyton (London). "

The Special Award brought three special stories. Norway journalists Anders Fjellberg and Tomm W. Christiansentracked a story The Wetsuit Man about dead suits men, men who tried to swim over the sea to find a better place to live.

"Last winter two bodies were found in Norway and the Netherlands. They were wearing identical wetsuits. The police in three countries were involved in the case, but never managed to identify them. This is the story of who they were. "

Amrai Coen and Henning Sussebach from Germany wrote about the family which tried to reach the final destination. In the Promised Land is a powerful story, definitely worth reading.

"An Iraqi family, exposed on the highway. Policemen in constant struggle against smugglers. War victims wandering across a Bavarian idyll. In Passau daily strand hundreds of refugees – stories from the German Lampedusa. "

Netherlander author Gert van Langendonck won with his piece Off to Europe.

"Correspondent Gert van Langendonck is trying to enter Fortress Europe with a group of Syrian refugees. Their leader Mazen Ismail is taking them from Turkey to the Promised Land: Germany. How will they get there? What will happen to them along the way? And will they make it? "

These winning stories are nothing like the articles we are usually reading in the daily news or tabloids. Take your time and think about the way the mainstream media change the minds of the readers and viewer. Make your own opinion and think. Think critically.

Lucie Laštíková