Abstract

Join us for this week’s CGHR Salon on Sex, Drugs and Mafioso: The rise of illicit economies in the wake of the refugee crisis. The discussion will be led by journalist Emily Kassie.

Looking at four hotspots of the refugee crisis, Niger, Italy, Turkey and Germany, Emily’s work examines the mafia scams, drug and weapons networks, sex trafficking and privatization forces that have capitalized on human suffering in what has become the biggest humanitarian crisis of our time. Emily will discuss the transformations of networks, routes and economies and the subsequent heightened bleakness for those who fall victim to it. Emily will take us behind the scenes of the reporting process sharing obstacles, blunders and conclusions formed along the way. This work was culminated in a magazine feature for Highline, the Huffington Post’s investigation magazine, titled the 21st Century Goldrush. It recently won the national magazine award for multimedia story of the year.

Emily Kassie is a national magazine award (Ellie) and academy award winning journalist and filmmaker. In 2016, she won a World Press Photo award for multimedia and was named multimedia journalist of the year by the National Press Photographer’s Association. Her work focuses on issues of human rights, corruption and conflict and she is currently completing an MPhil in International Relations at Cambridge as a Gates scholar.

Suggested reading: The 21st Century Gold Rush: How the refugee crisis is changing the world economy http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/the-21st-century-gold-rush-refugees/#/niger