VISA TO
NOWHERE
Seven countries. Fifteen reporters. One manufactured crisis.
Polish-German Journalist Award
Polsko-Niemiecka Nagroda Dziennikarska im. Tadeusza Mazowieckiego · 2022
Presented in Görlitz, Germany
One World Media Digital Media Award
2022
A STORY TOLD
IN THREE ACTS
When Polish journalists were being blocked from the Poland-Belarus border zone, Outriders went upstream. To Lebanon. To Iraq. To Germany and Lithuania. The project launched on October 11, 2021 as a live five-day series of dispatches on Gazeta.pl — while reporters were filing in real time from seven countries simultaneously. A documentary film followed, released in Polish, Arabic, Russian, and English and placed in the public domain. Then an interactive web story archived and deepened the full investigation.
"War. Hunger. Climate. The desire for a better life. These are the reasons people decide to leave their homes. We wanted to talk to those who had already arrived, those still on the journey, and those just preparing to go. We also wanted to understand the mechanisms behind it — who profits, who acts as intermediary, and why no one can stop this operation that has already reached industrial scale."
— Jakub Górnicki, co-founder, Outriders · Project launch statement, October 2021
Source: Agora press release, October 11, 2021
LEBANON. IRAQ. BELARUS.
How a visa becomes a weapon
The documentary traces the full arc — from the travel agencies in Beirut selling Belarus 'tourist packages' for $6,000–$10,000, to the families stranded in Lithuanian forests, to those who finally reached Germany. The film was released in four languages and placed in the public domain. Anyone can share it; attribution is the only requirement.
⚠ Film audio is in Polish. English subtitles available on YouTube.
Watch the full film →THE MANUFACTURED CRISIS
Anne Applebaum covered the same border crisis for The Atlantic in November 2021, calling it 'The Manufactured Migrant Crisis on Europe's Doorstep.' She recorded this clip inviting audiences to watch the Outriders documentary. The footage she described — a Kurdish family of 16 including a four-month-old infant, two weeks in a Polish forest, eating nothing for two days — was what Outriders had documented from the origin points.
⚠ video-applebaum.mp4 audio is in English.
WHERE THE
JOURNEY BEGINS
EXPLORE THE FULL
INVESTIGATION
The interactive version at weareoutriders.com/en/visatonowhere/ archives the complete reporting — articles, photos, and the documentary — in a single immersive web experience. Built by the Outriders team after the live coverage closed.
FILED IN REAL TIME
Five days. Seven countries. Dispatches from Beirut, Baghdad, Vydeniai, and the Polish border forest — published simultaneously on Gazeta.pl as reporters worked in the field. The coverage included interviews with migrants, investigations into Belarus 'tour operators,' and documentation of conditions in Lithuanian temporary detention centers.
(search: #WizaDonikąd on Gazeta.pl)
Outriders z filmem pokazującym drogę migrantów do Europy
October 19, 2021Reporterzy ustalili, jak wyglądają 'wycieczki na Białoruś'. Jeden bilet kosztuje 6–10 tys. dolarów
October 18, 2021Skąd się biorą migranci na granicy polsko-białoruskiej?
November 9, 2021IN THE FIELD ACROSS 7 COUNTRIES
Lola García-Ajofrín · Karolina Baca-Pogorzelska · Marta Bloch · Julia Alekseeva · Marek Berezowski · Tadeusz Michrowski · Anas Idrees · Ali Alsheikh · Anna Górnicka · Jakub Górnicki · Andrzej Budnik · Zuzanna Olejniczak · Piotr Kliks · Lorena Barrios · Grzegorz Kurek
Source: Polsko-Niemiecka Nagroda Dziennikarska im. Tadeusza Mazowieckiego 2022 award citation
In partnership with Gazeta.pl (Agora S.A.)