‘Voices like mine deserve to be heard’: Greater Govanhill celebrates double win for refugee reporting
Greater Govanhill writers Sadia Sikander, Tabassum Niamat and Pinar Aksu took home both Winner and Runner Up at the Refugee Festival Scotland Media Awards 2025 — a celebration of independent journalism and those “who make the change at the grassroots level”.
L-R: Alison Phipps, Sadia Sikander with her award; Pinar Aksu, Tabassum Niamat with their certificates
Photo by Angie Catlin/Scottish Refugee Council
By Devon McCole
In a time where we've seen increased tensions between communities – often inflamed by sensationalist reporting, the Refugee Festival Scotland Media Awards 2025 was an important reminder of the value of journalism that connects people and builds understanding.
At the awards ceremony on Wednesday evening, journalists and activists working to change the narrative surrounding refugee and asylum seekers through responsible coverage and powerful storytelling came together to celebrate good journalism on refugee and asylum issues.
As Sabir Zazai CEO of the Scottish Refugee Council who himself is of a refugee background said in his opening remarks: “We need not to shout louder but listen more deeply.”
In a new category, celebrating Independent Media, Greater Govanhill was shortlisted for two articles – and we were delighted to take home both the Winner and Runner Up prize.
L-R: Pinar Aksu, Rhiannon J Davies, Tabassum Niamat, Sadia Sikander, Devon McCole
Sadia Sikander, who won first place in the Features category was commended for her personal piece ‘Facing Hatred With Hope’, which first appeared in Issue 16 of the magazine, in a series that responded to the racially motivated riots that had happened in England by trying to build understanding and action.
Sadia’s article documents the challenges she’s faced as a refugee in Scotland, from the emotional toll of societal hostility, systemic barriers, navigating unfamiliar systems and finding employment. By sharing her own first-hand experience she challenges the pervasive narratives and lies around the lifestyle and living conditions of refugees in Scotland.
After collecting her award Sadia shared how much the recognition and support she had received from people locally had meant to her:
“I’m so happy that I made this choice, that I came to Glasgow. Many people thought that I might move to London but for me, the compassion, the way Glasweigians show solidarity and love for refugees and Palestinians, that’s what attracted me to come over here.”
Reflecting on what it meant to write for the magazine, she said:
“My heartfelt thanks to the entire team for creating a platform that enables voices like mine to be heard, and for supporting stories that reflect lived experiences with honesty and depth.”
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Community and human rights activists Tabassum Niamat and Pinar Aksu collected their awards as runners-up in the same category for their powerful and uplifting jointly-written article ‘These are our Neighbours’: Three years on from Kenmure Street, what’s changed?’ – a piece which reflects on the day hundreds gathered to challenge Scotland’s hostile immigration system and, importantly, highlighting the concerning changes in the system that followed.
Tabssum and Pinar were commended for their continued empathy and activism, which shone through in their article calling upon the people of Glasgow once again to stand in solidarity with their neighbours, neighbours who authorities threatened to detain with the passing of the Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill in May last year.
Alison Phipps presenting the award, alongside host Iona Ballantyne
Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair for Refugee Integration through Languages, who presented the Independent Media category, highlighted this in her speech, saying:
“Journalists, politicians and academics are the first ones targeted when war breaks out, particularly when we are in the midst of genocidal campaigns. The independent media is often the one that saves the day.
“It’s the independent, brave individuals doing it themselves, learning from other people…picking up a phone and having a go at filming who bring us stories that otherwise we would never hear – and in particular where people are living under siege and where people escape and flee and reach sanctuary, often it’s the independent journalists who bring and break the story.
“Over the many years I’ve been witnessing the Refugee Festival I’ve really seen this incredibly exciting category of independent journalism grow from initiatives like Greater Govanhill coming together [with other media] to sustain and support people to do journalism, seeing refugee journalists being recognised and finding a way of being recognised…seeing that as a legacy and a history we can be proud of in Scotland of independent and independently-minded journalists doing their work.
“And I’m here to tell you that independently-minded journalists are often not the easiest of people, but according to a report I was part of written by UNESCO, they are the ones who make the change at the grassroots level, they are the ones who are stubborn and tenacious and creative and make things happen. This is what we saw in this category.”
Greater Govanhill has been a runner-up in previous years’ Features, Local Media and Radio categories and was praised for its coverage of the bravery and resilience of people rebuilding their lives here in Scotland, but this year we can proudly say our contributors left with well-deserved awards recognising their struggles and their power.
We’re incredibly moved that as an independent, hyperlocal publication we can provide a platform for under-represented voices in the media, shining a light on these often overlooked but ever so important stories, which at the very core of them are deeply human.