Student Journalist wins JRS Award
Louise Zanre of JRS (on left) presents Kirsty with her award.
Gled Clapson
Kirsty Whalley, originally from Zimbabwe and now studying at City University, London, has been awarded third prize in the first ever ‘Writing about Refugees’ competition organised by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) - Europe. However, she was unable to collect her award with the other winners in Brussels because her passport had expired and the Belgian authorities would not accept emergency papers; so instead, Louis Zanré, Director of JRS-UK, made the presentation at the offices of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) - one of the sponsors - in London.
In her introductory remarks, Louise explained that there had been two principal objectives behind the project: firstly, as an educational and awareness - raising tool, reaching the ‘journalists of tomorrow’ and helping them to think and recognise the real people and stories behind some of the ‘scurrilous headlines’ often written about refugees and asylum seekers. The second objective, Louise continued, was to produce good news stories about refugees - stories that were accurate, positive and truthful.
After accepting her award - a certificate, a watch and a plaque - Kirsty (23) explained why she had chosen the topic for her article:
Destitute Zimbabwean Asylum Seekers Stuck in Limbo in the United Kingdom.
She said she felt their story was ‘close to her heart’ for her, since she was born in Zimbabwe herself, and was moved by the fact that so many of her co-patriots ‘really are destitute’. Kirsty lamented the fact that negative reporting, myths and inaccurate information in the media were perpetuating the problems.
In their adjudication, the judges described Kirsty’s article as ‘excellent’ and ‘well written’. Whilst they regretted the fact that she had not been able to get some official response to the issues raised (the Home Office ‘will not comment on individual cases’), they praised the article ‘for presenting migrants as actors of their own fate, not as victims. Particularly interesting was the portrayal of the solidarity among members of the Zimbabwean community, as was the comparison made between Zimbabweans in exile and the ANC in South Africa’.
Tony Horan sj