Pramod Acharya

Pramod Acharya is an award-winning Nepali investigative journalist and documentary producer.

He covers the issues of human rights, forced labor, human trafficking, climate change, immigration, and other social justice issues. His investigations have uncovered the exploitation of Asian migrant workers in Qatar’s construction sector, abuses and harassment of human trafficking victims in the UAE and Kuwait, the plight of imprisoned migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, and the operations of trafficking rings in Asia and Arab nations.

In 2023, Acharya investigated the abusive and exploitative labor practices at the operations of Amazon, McDonald's, Chuck E Cheese, and other renowned brands in the Middle East. In 2022, his video story for The New York Times highlighted the exploitation of Nepali migrant workers during Qatar’s construction spree in the run-up to the World Cup. In his BBC documentary “The Gulf: Killer Heat,” he examined the deaths, injuries, and life-threatening diseases of Nepali migrant workers in the Middle East. Acharya’s work has been published in various other international outlets, including The Guardian UK/US, NBC News, Reuters, CNN, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Channel 4, Open Democracy, Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Times, Sky Sports Television, Migrant-Rights.org, and others.

His reporting has received awards and recognition from various international prestigious organizations such as Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW), International Labor Organizations (ILO), Picture of the Year International (POY), One World Media (OWM), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), and others. Previously, Acharya worked as a Data Reporter at Investigate Midwest (previously known as the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting), a nonprofit newsroom in Illinois, focusing on agribusiness-related topics such as farm laborers’ wage theft, food insecurity, pesticide use, and health hazards of agricultural workers.

In Nepal, Acharya worked both as a Reporter and an Assistant Editor at the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJ), where he extensively reported and edited stories on modern slavery, environmental degradation, public health, and education. As an editor, he led a team of Nepali reporters to collaborate with international journalists for cross-border investigation on money laundering and financial crimes.

Basic information

Name

Pramod Acharya

Title

Investigative journalist and documentary producer

Expertise

Investigative reporting: human trafficking, forced labor, modern slavery, human rights, immigration, climate change, data mining/analysis/visualization.

Country

Nepal

City

Texas/Kathmandu

@acharyapramod

Links

Mentor for

A High Stakes 'Game' - How traffickers exploit young Bangladeshis’ dreams of escape to Europe

Corruption
Human Rights
Migration
Trafficking

DHAKA - Faced with poverty and lack of opportunities, young Bangladeshis often dream of a better life in Europe that will allow them to provide for their families. Dalaals or ‘travel agents’ encourage and capitalise upon these hopes. Among those that take the risky journey to Italy known as 'the game' are hundreds of unaccompanied minors. The reality that greets them is often one of misery, exploitation, and slavery.

The exploitation of Bangladeshi beach vendors in Italy

Exploitation
Migration
Trafficking

MONDELLO - Every year millions of European tourists crowd Italy's diverse beaches, visiting ancient seaside towns and bathing in the Mediterranean Sea’s warm, azure waters. But while some enjoy themselves among the colourful parasols and picture-perfect scenery, others are fighting for survival.

The exploited Bangladeshi migrants at the heart of Sicily's new food revolution

Exploitation
Human Rights
Migration
Trafficking

PALERMO – The Italian market for sushi has surged over the last decade and is now one of its most popular foreign cuisines. Sicily – which like many regions of Italy is fiercely proud of its regional food culture – has nevertheless seen a recent food revolution with sushi restaurants and poke bowl joints appearing across its cities, helped along by the lockdown surge in delivery culture, and the popularity of apps such as Glovo, UberEats and Deliveroo.

The True Cost of Kiwis

LAZIO - The team has been investigating The Green Gold of Italy, or Kiwi Revolution as it is known locally, since April 2022. The Lazio region of Italy has become the world's largest producer of kiwis in the past years. But glitter doesn't always mean gold.