London: An award-winning Sudanese journalist said the UK government’s refusal to grant him a visa prevented him from attending a London ceremony where he was named Journalist of the Year, describing the decision as a “double standard and censorship.”
According to Anadolu Agency, Mohammed Amin, a freelance Sudan correspondent for the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, received the Journalist of the Year award at the 2026 One World Media Awards for his reporting on the war in Sudan. However, Amin was unable to attend the ceremony after the UK Home Office rejected his application for an eight-day visitor visa. He accepted the award through a video message instead.
In a letter explaining the decision, the Home Office said it was not satisfied that Amin intended to leave the UK at the end of his visit or that his trip met the requirements for a visitor visa. Speaking to Anadolu, Amin said the decision was discriminatory and reflected broader barriers faced by journalists from the Global South. He rejected the refusal letter’s argument of the possibility of not leaving at the end of the visitor visa, saying: “That is simply not true.”
Amin noted that he had previously traveled to the UK in 2022 to receive the Martin Adler Prize for reporting on abuses committed by the Wagner Group in Sudan and the Central African Republic, with his visa approved within three days. “This time, I faced a different attitude,” he said, calling the decision a “double standard and censorship.”
He also criticized what he described as a contradiction in Britain’s approach to Sudan. The UK hosts humanitarian and political conferences on Sudan, yet Sudanese journalists are denied visas to participate in international discussions, he said. Amin argued that the decision limits opportunities for Sudanese journalists to bring attention to the conflict, which has devastated the country since fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023.
The war has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing nearly 13 million, according to international estimates. Amin said Sudan deserves the same level of international solidarity seen in other global crises and called on governments to increase pressure on countries supporting the conflict. “Sudan is not a heavy burden in this world, and the Sudanese are not a heavy burden in this world, and they deserve to be treated with equality,” he said.