Sky News has won a BAFTA for its news coverage of the Rohingya crisis. The broadcaster filmed the first independent evidence from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, which laid bare the shocking deprivation and desperation among thousands of stranded Rohingya Muslims.
The alarming footage showed emaciated women and newborn babies who were dumped on beaches and left to die – just some of the victims of Myanmar’s brutal crackdown against the Rohingyas, Sky News in a report said.
Collecting the BAFTA, Sky News’ Special Correspondent Alex Crawford thanked the judges for recognising the importance of the crisis in Myanmar.
“People tell me that British people don’t care what is happening abroad but they do,” she said.
She added that the coverage showed the “desperate conditions of those refugees, it is still going on tonight and this raises their profile.”
“And thanks for showing that brave honest, impartial, independent journalism can hopefully make a difference,” Crawford said.
Sky News had gained two nominations for the news coverage award – the other nod for its reporting on the battle for Mosul as Iraqi forces attempted to reclaim it from Islamic State control.
Also nominated in the category were Channel 4 and ITV for coverage of the Grenfell Tower fire.