Supported projects

BRUSSELS - Suddenly Eva finds herself face to face with a portrait of her Congolese great-grandfather François. Retrieved from the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren. In the unfamiliar portrait, Eva recognises traits of herself.

AMSTERDAM - At the beginning of World War I, 1 million Belgians fled to the Netherlands. About a hundred thousand stayed throughout the war, the majority in large camps. The Netherlands showed hospitality, but conditions in the refugee camps were much to be criticised.

GOMBE - Is return an answer to racism? Youth worker, activist and opinion maker Don Pandzou (34), a Belgian youngster with Congolese roots, finds out. Growing up in Belgium was not an easy experience for Don. Racism and discrimination left emotional scars.

ANKARA - One image that will undoubtedly mark 2021 is that of the tens of thousands of desperate Afghans drumming outside the closed gates of Kabul airport to get away. The borders were sealed tight, yet hundreds of thousands of Afghans managed to flee. A number of them reached Turkey in the hope of being able to ask for international protection there. An illusion, as it turns out. After the fall of Kabul, Turkey, with the help of Europe, also sealed its borders and stopped registering Afghan asylum seekers. And the waiting lists for resettlement to Europe are endless, so there is little relief to be expected there either.

ANTWERPEN - In 2017, Francis Njotea is rushed to hospital. He is in a coma for a week. When he wakes up, confused, he shares a secret with his son Raf. That contrary to what his children and ex-wife have always thought, he is not 63 but 73 years old. He later dismisses his claim as a hallucination. Francis’ children and ex-wife have no idea if what he said is true or not. It shows how little they know about his life story, a story that has been shrouded in mystery for as long as they can remember.

MELILLA - The Spanish enclave of Melilla, geographically part of Africa, politically part of the European Union, is located on Morocco's northern coast. The border between the continents here consists of a triple fence with countless pits and guard posts.

ERBIL - What is the involvement of Belgian jihadists in the genocide that IS carried out against the Jezidi community? Now that the Belgian parliament has acknowledged the genocide, Brenda Stoter Boscolo and Bruno Struys went to Iraqi Kurdistan with that question in mind. They talked to official sources, but above all had hours of interviews with the Yezidis themselves.

BRUSSELS - The thirty glorious years after the Second World War, that manic period of reconstruction and economic boom, have been decisive for the Belgium of today. The whole country was turned upside down. New jobs, habits and ideas replaced the old ones. At the end of those triumphant decades, Belgians were richer, freer and better educated than ever before.

SAMOS - The harrowing conditions in the hotspots of the Greek islands of Lesbos, Samos and Chios have created a mental health crisis. Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and self-harm are the most common mental health problems reported by NGOs in the field.

ANTWERP - The 40-year war in Afghanistan is pushing more and more Afghans to become refugees. Their numbers are also increasing in Belgium. In the port city of Antwerp, Afghans have become the fifth largest nationality group. Gie Goris went to Antwerp and listened to older and younger, male and female, Pashtu and Dari-speaking refugees and migrants from the war-torn country.

TRIPOLI - How much do illegal immigrants suffer from smuggling networks? How do the illegal immigrants get in contact with the smugglers? What is the role of the international community in curbing the spread of this business? Investigative journalist Mahmoud Elsobky searched for answers to these questions and travelled to Libya, Tunisia, France, Germany and Mauritania. There he met with victims of illegal immigration and smugglers.

PUYUELO - Only 15.8% of the total population still lives in the so-called Empty Spain, which covers just over half of the interior of the country. While Spanish cities have doubled or even tripled in size over the past century, the population in the interior of the country has barely increased.

BRUSSELS - In the heart of Brussels, a stone's throw from the Parliament and the Royal Palace, nearly 100 West African migrants occupy a squat. Divided into seven bedrooms. For six years now.

GEZNAKH - Atra is a documentary about Alexandro Yaramis' search for roots. He travels through former North Mesopotamia. He crosses Assyrian settlements that are in the middle of the conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK. When he hears that a church is being built in his father's village, Geznakh, he decides to make this important journey

BRUSSELS - This story tells how European border and migration policy is making life difficult for people on the Balkan route. Officially, the route is closed, but this research shows how it is still active.

BOURBON-LANCY - On the 1st of August Tom Ysewijn leaves Ghent with his bicycle to Lisbon. His route runs along the "outlying areas", places in the countryside in France, Spain and Portugal that are becoming more and more depopulated. During this tour, which can be followed via MO*, he goes in search of the voice of the countryside.

BRUSSELS - We call them transmigrants. Also known as 'illegals'. Almost a swear word. Caroline van Gastel and Saar Van Eyck shed light on the harsh daily reality of a number of young women in Brussels. They come from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan where the regime oppresses the population and conflicts between communities are fought violently. The people can barely survive. They have to leave family and children behind in search of work. When they will see them again, nobody knows.

NEW DELHI - According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, India is the most dangerous country in the world for women. Nowhere more girls are sold as slaves. In melting Himalayan glaciers, prolonged drought, devastating storms and disappearing islands, human traffickers found new allies. Floods make millions of people homeless, displaced women are easy victims.

BEERVELDE - Every night the last train leaves for the Belgian village of Beervelde, located along the E17. From the station, young men and women try to reach one of the nearby motorway parking lots, usually on foot. There they try to get on a truck that will bring them to England.

LESBOS - Dimitri Van Zeebroeck and Lize Van Dyck join forces for a special film documentary about the migration crisis, more specifically in Lesbos, Greece. In the meantime, they write blog posts and articles for MO*, a Belgian magazine.

ETHIOPIA/UK - Fisseha was born in Eritrea and grew up in Ethiopia. After his father passed away, his uncle takes care of him. Tensions break out in the region and Fisseha and his uncle are no longer safe because of their beliefs.

ANKARA - Turkey and the EU need each other. Even in a context of tense relations, harsh rhetoric and a near dead accession process, they approach each other. In anticipation of a marriage that may never come, there is cooperation in various areas today. Think of the refugee deal, counter-terrorism, trade, energy, ... Is there a new friendship or rather a forced LAT relationship without passion?

This story about European 'refugee management' starts in the summer of 1938 in the stately French spa town of Evian, at the first international summit about the refugee crisis in Europe. The number of Jews who tried to escape from the Nazi occupied territorium had exploded: reception places were needed urgently. All Western European countries were present at Evian and their arguments for not letting in the refugees were the same as now: the 'migrants' would not be compatible with national norms and values, would take jobs and houses and would be a threaten for societal cohesion. 

ACCRA - Filmmaker and actor Adams Mensah returns to Ghana, the country where he was born and spent half his life. "Ghana For You" is part of a larger project in which Adams explores the causes that encourage young Ghanaians to emigrate. Starting from his personal life story, he starts looking for possible explanations.

DAKAR - Following the example of some twenty German top companies, over the past two years, a handful of Belgian companies have also joined a pilot project on circular migration for highly educated African youth. They come to work in Belgium for a few months in a company that offers them a full-fledged job, build a network here and gain a lot of business experience, after which they return to their homeland to take the lead themselves.

KAMPALA - Uganda is known as 'the best country in the world for refugees'. Everyone who arrives gets a piece of land and material to build a house.

BARCELONA - Some 500 street vendors from Senegal, India and Pakistan work in the streets of Barcelona. Arkasha Keysers talked to them about fake sneakers, bad beer and the fear of a criminal record.

KALEMIE - In My Congo Bart Demyttenaere goes in search of the traces of three generations of Demyttenaere in his native country.

SENEGAL - In Senegal, 63 percent of the population is 25 years or younger. Every year that group gets bigger. Almost all of these young people want to go to Europe. They know the stories about the hellish journey through the desert, the assaults in Libya and the chance to drown in the Mediterranean. But that doesn't stop them.

BAGHDAD - In recent years, thousands of Iraqis have voluntarily returned from Belgium to Iraq. Whoever returns, often did not really choose that, even if it is called "voluntary". The voluntary returnees from our country have often undergone a failed asylum procedure. Others could not handle the long waiting periods, with a high probability of a negative decision - in the years 2015 and 2016 the Belgian asylum authorities could not cope with the flow - and they missed their family.