Supported projects

ACCRA, ABUJA - This story puts the spotlight on a clandestine network of gunsmiths and arms traffickers operating in West Africa in contravention of local laws. It shows how these gunsmiths and traffickers exploit the porous borders across the West Africa and Sahel region to traffic illicit small arms and light weapons, which continues to fuel conflicts across the region.

BENGHAZI - Fighter jets commanded by the Libyan military general Khalifa Haftar were secretly upgraded and serviced using parts shipped in by Russia over 2019 and 2020, violating the existing UN arms embargo, according to security sources with knowledge of the operations.

Illegally logged teak from South Sudan goes to India where it is made into furniture before it could end up in stores in Europe. Indian timber traders illegally source the timber from East Africa and export it as an 'Indian' product after processing.

As countries in Eastern Europe increasingly face the problem of lack of workforce, they are turning to a new source of workers – Asian countries, especially Nepal. But often those workers are abused on the way during their journey to Europe and exploited in the destination countries, which don't have a long tradition of hosting migrant workers. 

The first bomb hits the village of Deir al-Hajari in north-western Yemen on October 8, 2016 at around 3 a.m. The air strike kills a family of six: a pregnant mother, her husband, and four children. The survivors watch as their homes are destroyed by the air raid.

NIGERIA, GERMANY - In the 1970s Nigerian students founded a fraternity to fight against oppression and racism. Today, their name appears worldwide in connection with criminal activities. What happened?

KOSOVO - In Kosovo a well organized trafficking network has started a big wave of minors who leave for Italy. Thanks to the Zampa law, which was introduced in 2017, they can get licenses to study or to work, if they report themselves at the Italian immigration services. The law was meant to decrease the number of missing unaccompanied migrant children, but it helps human smuggling in hand. "It's a company of 100.000 euros a month, but no one seems to care", says the prosecutor in Triëste.

Over thousands of camel shepherds have fled Syria to the European Union, crossing the sea and mountains to seek refuge following the tragic ongoing war, that has changed their lifestyle with loss of camels to illegal trafficking. 

The Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) is the European Union's largest funding mechanism for development, stability and migration in Africa. Over the past three years it has spent 4,6 billion euro in 26 African countries. This money, however, has not been spent following the proper public procurement laws of the EU.

ABIDJAN - In this story, investigative journalists Daan Bauwens and Nicholas Ibekwe focus on Highway 10, the transatlantic route that for centuries brought millions of captured African slaves to South-America via the tenth parallel.