Project description:

The investigation explored the tragic stories of unaccompanied minors, as well as the violations committed against this group, which is the most vulnerable among the refugee community, outside the country by presenting cases of grave violations, such as sexual abuse, torture, and exploitation by alternative families and smuggling gangs.

The investigation, which took roughly a year and a half to complete, reveals that some families exploit these children in order to gain UNHCR assistance

The investigation delves into the challenges confronting this population, which is projected to number more than 50 million children worldwide, according to UNICEF estimates.

Impact reached:

Following the publication of the investigation, some organizations interested in refugee minors have introduced initiatives to educate and socialize children and have attempted to link them with official organizations to be resettled in some European States.

** Some civil society organizations presented copies of the investigation to the authorities responsible for unaccompanied children in Egypt in order to document the failure of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Cairo to verify the cases that are due to its programs for unaccompanied children. The investigation revealed the existence of exploitation of this group and the fact that some families had contacted persons accredited by the Commission to obtain undeserved support on the grounds that their children are unaccompanied children, which led to the assistance provided for real cases of unaccompanied minor children

** We received threats from unknown persons to us, asking them for data and information on some cases and information that we have documented in the investigation. We believe that they are relatives of Sudanese nationality, because Sudanese law makes some relatives have the right to have children instead of women

** We faced difficulties documenting this investigation by voice and photo because there were threats to those filming without security clearance, and any journalist who requested such statements refused to do so.

** Some of the cases we documented in the investigation were subjected to attempts to exploit and obtain UNHCR assistance in return for care and the families’ refusal to leave these cases for any other place

Techniques/technologies used:

* The investigation includes a comprehensive presentation of the dimensions of that issue, equipped with statistics and data that reveal the details of that thorny file that has turned into a paper on the negotiating table between the leaders of countries.
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* **Despite the difficulty of obtaining official statistics from responsible bodies and organisations interested in this category, we were able to obtain documented answers backed up by numbers from UNICEF organisations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Save the Children, the United Nations High Commissioner, and representatives of human rights organisations interested in refugees.
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* ** The approach of dealing with a thorny file involving children, which required us to rely on illustrative and emotional drawings in some scenarios for some circumstances.
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** One of the challenges we faced was determining how to display and use the data in a smooth manner that corresponds to the story and increases its strength during the presentation, especially since the investigation period lasted about a year and a half, requiring us to have a large press material in our possession that required a visual presentation so that we could review the information in our possession with the least space.

Context about the project:

The difficulties we encountered during the preparation of the investigation

**It is difficult to determine the true cases of unaccompanied children, in light of the discovery that some families have tampered with the registration of their children in violation of the fact that they are unaccompanied in order to obtain support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

We have been threatened by human brokers who are trying to control these children and use them for illegal acts, whether through smuggling, obtaining organs from their bodies or using them as a card in conflicts and wars, since they are the most vulnerable group that has no voice, despite the fact that there are more than 50 million children in the world

** We received threats from unknown persons to us, asking them for data and information on some cases and information that we have documented in the investigation. We believe that they are relatives of Sudanese nationality, because Sudanese law makes some relatives have the right to have children instead of women

** Some of the cases we documented in the investigation were subjected to attempts to exploit and obtain UNHCR assistance in return for care and the families’ refusal to leave these cases for any other place

**The majority of the cases we highlighted in the inquiry came from locations where people could not speak Arabic, had a different culture, and had mistrust in the community they came to, thus it took time to gain the trust of the cases and alternative familie

What can other journalists learn from this project?

Every journalist should insist on completing his goal, whatever the reasons and restrictions imposed, try to reach his goal of spreading the whole truth without any shortage, and try to address the suffering of marginalized and vulnerable groups, considering this issue a priority for journalism and the media
Those working in the field of journalism should also realize that they have a message in spreading the whole truth, presenting it to the reader, and continuing to seek clarification of all information.

Project links:

https://www.cairo24.com/1622528

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2Mk9gBiNOQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_RFNPaG01I