Anadolu Agency photojournalist wins prize in Japan

By Sena Guler

ANKARA (AA) - Anadolu Agency photojournalist Ozge Elif Kizil has won the third place in Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards.

The competition is organized by Days Japan, a monthly photojournalism magazine.

Kizil's prize-winning photograph, titled “Rohingya Exodus”, shows a girl crying next to her elderly relative after she arrives in Shah Porir Dwip near Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar fleeing attacks and persecution in Myanmar.

Kizil, in a series of photographs, presents the plight of the Rohingya people in a spate of violence where security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women, and children, looted homes and torched villages.

Kizil shared the third place with Alain Schroeder and Arka Dutta.

Laurent Van der Stockt received the first prize in the competition while Paula Bronstein and Karl Mancini shared the second place.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

Last October, following attacks on border posts in Rakhine's Maungdaw district, security forces launched a five-month crackdown in which, according to Rohingya groups, around 400 people were killed.

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.