Lost for words to be shortlisted for "young journalist of the year" for this year’s Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards, for my work in Syria. Just one of two (@parrytom.bsky.social 👋) freelancers out of 76! What an honour to be alongside these incredible reporters - especially Malak in Gaza.

Once a thriving Palestinian neighbourhood, Yarmouk, in southern Damascus, obliterated by Assad and his forces. After reporting on Syria remotely for years, nothing could have prepared me for the extent of the devastation in person - it goes on for miles.

Just spent the week in a field (under glorious blue skies) learning how not to die (among many other valuable skills!) in hostile environments. The courses are prohibitively expensive for freelancers, so I was V thrilled to be awarded a grant from @rorypecktrust.bsky.social , huge thank you🙏

Cambodia’s deminers work step by step, mine by mine, to reclaim their land. It’s slow, dangerous and often underfunded. I have immense respect to deminers working tirelessly under tough conditions. But in once-lethal fields now growing rice, there’s proof that change is possible.

Cambodia’s landmine crisis once captured the world’s attention, thanks in part to Princess Diana’s advocacy and liberal govts of the 90s. But today, UK mine action funding is at its lowest in years. In 2023, the UK gave £12.2m—far below the US, Germany, and Japan.

The war in Ukraine is testing the treaty. At the fifth review treaty conference, Biden’s decision to transfer landmines to Ukraine, the day before, sparked protests. Some said timing was deliberate. Ukraine, a treaty signatory, avoided commenting.

The Ottawa Treaty, signed in 1997, was meant to rid the world of landmines. Cambodia is often called its “spiritual home.” The treaty has made progress, but a 2025 mine-free world now looks impossible. Conflicts today are pushing the limits of its effectiveness.

Demining is meticulous, exhausting, and deadly. Every beep of a metal detector could mean a mine—or just a scrap of metal or gum wrapper. Since June, teams at the site we visited have found 18 mines and 126,569 pieces of metal. Each discovery being one step closer safety.

Kang, a 58-year-old war veteran, remembers the war vividly: “Gunfire echoed through the trees every night.” He used to detonate mines with sticks—or even his bare hands. One exploded, costing him his leg. Now, he’s one of Cambodia’s most experienced deminers.

Cambodia was once the most mined country in the world. The Khmer Rouge fell in 1998, but millions of unexploded mines still threaten lives. At its peak in 1996, landmines caused over 4,300 casualties a year. Today, it’s under 100—but the danger is far from gone.

I visited a demining site in Ou Choam Kraom, where @minesadvisorygroup.bsky.social works to clear landmines—remnants of Cambodia’s brutal conflicts. The country is still littered with explosives from the Khmer Rouge era and decades of war. Some 435 sq km remain contaminated.

In a forest clearing near the Thai border in Cambodia, a group of deminers sit down to breakfast—sticky rice, pork-stuffed marrows, spinach. A peaceful scene at 6:30, but just feet away, red warning signs scream ‘danger mines.’ The day’s work is about to begin 🧵

The majestic Lamassu in the British Museum who once guarded Ashurnasirpal II’s throne room in Nimrud, Iraq. Looked on awe and also served as a great reminder to keep questioning how and why such artefacts are here.

Such beautiful writing from @leloveluck.bsky.social: 'A geography of loss runs through the city, in the bullet-scared buildings of the east and the empty church pews and bread lines of the west.' A gift link to read here: wapo.st/4iCk5ZG

I’m in Cambodia for the Review Conference for the Ottawa Convention (landmine ban) treaty. A privilege to have dinner beneath Bayon Temple in Angkor Wat. But pomp aside, hopes of a landmine-free world have been seriously stymied due to conflicts in Syria, Ukraine & Myanmar etc.