Tunis– The top Migration Media Award for excellence in coverage of that issue in the Euro-Mediterranean region have gone for a second year in a row to two ARIJean journalists.

Their story “Gaps at Egyptian and Greek airports allow secret immigration to Europe” won in the online category  of the EU sponsored competition and was announced in a ceremony in Carthage, Tunisia, Sept. 18.

Worried about security, the journalists used pen names only on their project in which they documented gaps in confirming passenger identities in Egyptian and Greece airports.

Amnesty International accused the Egyptian government of cracking down on freedom of expression so much it has turned into an “open-air prison” for any critic.

Last year, ARIJ-coached journalist Sameh Ellaboudy won first place in the video category of the award competition. His story “The eastern gateway” tracked alternative routes Syrian refugees picked out trying to flee into Europe after the EU reached an agreement with Ankara in 2015 that sealed once porous Turkish frontiers.

ARIJ has trained nearly 2,000 journalists, professors and students and supervised the broadcast of publication of more than 400 investigative reports via Arab and international satellite channels. Its teaching curriculum is taught in several colleges in the region.