They Crossed a Minefield To Reach Europe

Most people will never see a border like this. Where the ground is still seeded with landmines — and crossing it can mean risking your life more than once.

This week, that reporting was nominated for a European Press Prize.

And it’s exactly the kind of reporting that too often goes uncovered.

Our nominated piece, “Mines, Memory, and Migration on Bosnia’s Perilous Border,” follows those trying to reach Europe through Bosnia, where the legacy of war is still very much alive.

In some stretches of forest, the ground is marked with skull-and-crossbones signs. One wrong step can mean disturbing a landmine left behind from a war that officially ended decades ago. And yet, refugees and migrants pushed back at the border are forced to make that journey again and again — through the same terrain.

This is what “security policy” looks like on the ground.

But stories like this are rare.

Research shows that defense and security actors rarely appear in news coverage — and even fewer stories trace how those policies shape real lives and landscapes. That’s the gap this reporting fills: connecting the decisions made in capitals to the risks people carry in their bodies.

In a recent audience study, readers remembered our reporting on defense industry impacts far more clearly than mainstream national security coverage — often because they hadn’t seen anything like it before.

That’s what this nomination recognizes.

But here’s the reality: We don’t yet have the resources to do enough of this work.

If you believe this kind of reporting matters — reporting that connects policy to people, and power to consequence — help us do more of it:

Donate to Inkstick

Or forward this to someone who should be paying attention.

— Laicie

P.S. Be sure to check out the story behind the nomination: Mines, Memory, and Migration on Bosnia’s Perilous Border. If it moves you, help us do more of this work.

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