Kolkata student Sarah Aziz wins top British journalism award

May 27, 2025 by News Desk

Sarah Aziz, a 23-year-old freelance journalist and student from Kolkata, has won second prize in the “Young Journalist of the Year” category at the UK’s prestigious Press Awards held on May 22.

Aziz, currently pursuing her Master’s in Journalism at Columbia University in New York, began her reporting career in 2023 while studying English Literature at Loreto College, Kolkata.

Aziz was recognised for her powerful investigative reporting on the plight of Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh, a piece she produced for Voice of America. Her work has since expanded to major British outlets like The Guardian and The Telegraph (UK).

In 2024, she published a groundbreaking story in The Telegraph u llncovering the death of a Rohingya child detained by Indian authorities in New Delhi. The investigation revealed systemic abuse, medical negligence, and patterns of arbitrary detention of Rohingya refugees in India.

Earlier that year, her report in The Guardian exposed sexual abuse of incarcerated women in West Bengal, shedding light on state complicity and silencing tactics used against victims.

Aziz has reported extensively on the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in South Asia and has contributed to international platforms including The South China Morning Post, Voice of America, and The Times (UK). Her breaking news coverage of the 2025 Bangladesh student protests was published in The Times.

She is set to graduate from Columbia University in August 2025.