Damen Shipyards is the leading shipbuilder in the Netherlands with shipyards in 34 countries, revenues of €2 billion in 2017 and it employs 10,000 people. It is a very Dutch success story, owned by the Damen family, who have close links to the Dutch royal family. Despite its reputation at home, Damen now faces allegations of corruption in a number of countries.
Lighthouse Reports started a collaboration with NRC, a leading Dutch newspaper, to deeply investigate the activities of Damen. We spoke to dozens of current and former employees, diplomats and experts. We have filed FOI requests and traveled to West Africa to investigate Damen's business there.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo conflict is never far off. This is in part due to conflict minerals, the mining of which contributes to the perpetuation and aggravation of a cycle of violence. In the vast Okapi Wildlife Reserve, mining is illegal. But that doesn't limit the lengths to which people are willing to go to fight for the gold and other natural resources.
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Half of the world's leading exporters of arms are European Union member states. Weighing the full impact of this trade is complicated by the lack of available information on where these arms end up. Lighthouse Reports has launched a new project, #EUarms, that aims to fill this information void and connect arms manufacturers to the final destination of their exports.
Returns are fast emerging as the favoured tool of policymakers responding to the perceived need to control migration to the developed world. Deportations and voluntary returns of asylum seekers and migrants are being scaled up in Europe with little public scrutiny or understanding of the socio-economic costs or consequences. The Returns Network, launched in October 2018, is an independent journalistic venture that seeks to address serious gaps in publicly reported data.
This fall we’ll get underway on one of our most ambitious and consequential projects, “Missing Children”.
The Rumi Remedy goes to Afghanistan, where the poet was born in 1207 and remains immensely popular ever since. Compelling personal stories shed an unexpected light on this troubled region. Just like Rumi, young people are now fleeing their homes in Afghanistan to Turkey.
