The Australian’s Southeast Asia correspondent, Amanda Hodge, has won the Australian Council for International Development’s 2018 media award for her coverage of the Rohingya crisis and her article “A mother’s wish: let Allah take him”.
Hodge, who has been covering the Lion Air disaster for The Australian this week, said she was grateful for the recognition. She has been celebrated by her colleagues online.
The article tells the story of a hospital in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, against the devastating backdrop of a humanitarian, developmental, security and health crisis faced by Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar.
The award – presented at ACFID’s annual conference in Sydney on Tuesday evening – recognised the courageous simplicity of Hodge’s writing, and her commitment to objectivity by placing the lives and words of the Rohingya people at the story’s centre.
The award’s judges described how this gave dignity and justice to the Rohingya people and the story a resonating truth and integrity.