Henry Wilkins

In May 2016 Vice News commissioned a story from Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp, situated on Kenya's border with Somalia. The Kenyan government had recently announced plans to close the camp as it represented a national security threat. I spoke to refugees about their reaction to the announcement. You can read the original here. The piece was also syndicated to Business Insider.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In August 2020, I did a piece for VICE news on the children stuck working in Burkina Faso’s gold mines, as terrorists spread across the country. I visited a mine in Burkina Faso’s north just a few miles from where terrorists are active. You can read the full article here.

In November 2020, I was the first journalist to interview survivors of a terrorist attack on employees of the Canadian mining company SEMAFO. The attack in the east of Burkina Faso killed 39. Two survivors described the encounter from their hospital beds. You can read the full article here.

In November 2020, I investigated why an American citizen had been shot dead by soldiers after wandering into a military base on the day before Burkina Faso’s election. It turned into a story about mental illness, racism in America and the desire to find a safe place to live. You can read the article here.

In March 2021, I wrote this data driven piece for Al Jazeera English on the sharp drop in deaths in Burkina Faso’s conflict. You can read the full article here.

In April 2021 I spoke to the Sankara family’s lawyer on the day the Burkinabe military court announced it was indicting Blaise Compaore for his predecessor, Thomas Sankara’s murder. You can read the full article here.

In April 2021 I spoke to various experts and politicians about what the recent death of Deby, Chad’s president and military strongman could mean for the wider Sahel region and beyond. You can read the full article here.

In October 2020, I did a piece for Al Jazeera English on the upcoming election in Burkina Faso. Some of its citizens, worst affected by war and state neglect, were cut out of voter registration and unable to participate in the poll. You can read the article here. Image is by AFP, not me.

In March and April 2020, I spent several days reporting for The Washington Post on how coronavirus was hitting Burkina Faso, as it dealt with an ongoing terrorist insurgency. You can read the full article here. Image is by Anne Mimault/Reuters

In June 2017 I visited The International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi. They'd just developed a new ''thermostable' version of a goat plague vaccine which they believe could lead to the disease's erradication. You can read the full article here.  

In September 2020, Vice News asked me to write a piece for international climate day. It was about the battles over water happening across the Sahel, which are stoking a wider war in the region. You can read the full article here. Photo is by AFP, not me.

In June 2020, I reported on the plight of the people of Djibo, suffering under a blockade by armed groups attempting to cut ties between the town and the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou. This story was the result of several conversations with people inside Djibo over many weeks. You can read the full story here. Photo is by Michele Cattani for AFP.

In August 2018 I returned to Togo one year on from protests which looked set to unseat President Gnassingbe. He was still in power and had taken to killing protest leaders and suppressing others. You can read the full article here.

In October 2019, I moved to Burkina Faso to cover the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in country. This is one of my first stories from Burkina Faso, covering the assassination of a member of the national assembly, likely by jihadist militants. You can read the article here.

In December 2020, I reported on the aftermath of the Burkina Faso election and what a second term for president Kabore could mean for security. You can read the full article here. Photo is by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters, not me.

On 22.3.17 Westminster was attacked by a lone terrorist. I was asked to write a piece by ‘The Atlantic’ on how the emergency response to terrorism in London has developed since 7/7. You can read the full article here.

In November 2020, I did a deepdive for Al Jazeera English, into how Burkina Faso has changed since its insurrection of 2014. The surge in violence has defined the country ever since former dictator Blaise Compaore left the country and has led to many of the hopes and aspirations of the insurrection going unfulfilled. You can read the article here.

I wrote a piece for The Economist’s 1843 magazine on ‘3D printed whisky’. A US startup called Endless West created a ‘whisky’ which unlike others whiskies hasn’t been aged in a barrel. I went on a bar crawl around London to test it out. You can read the piece here.

In February 2020 I reported for Al Jazeera English from Ouagadougou on a priest and imam supporting interfaith marriage, in the face of attempts by terrorists in Burkina Faso to stoke religious tensions. You can read the full article here.

In February 2020, I visited the Hounde gold mine in west Burkina Faso to do a story for International Women’s Day. It focused on women filling traditionally male roles at the mine. You can read the full article here. Image is by Anne Mimault/Reuters.

In February 2016 I was sent down to Southern Africa by Vice News and another international publication to cover the drought. I worked closely with the UNHCR  on this piece to expose the effects of drought on some of Malawi's most vulnerable people. It was the leading story on Vice News for International Women's Day 2016. You can see the full article here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In November 2019 I visited Dori, in the war torn north of Burkina Faso. I met with several IDPs who had fled the fighting surrounding the town. The mystery of who was behind the violence was making it difficult for humanitarian organisations to access these areas. You can read the article here.

In February 2021, I did an analysis piece on the upcoming summit between the G5 Sahel coalition and France. France looked set to double down on its military solution to the conflict despite it having worsened over the last year. You can read the article here.

In September 2017 I traveled to Lomé to report on protests against the 50 year old Gnassingbé regime in Togo, Africa's longest ruling dynasty. You can see the full article here. Photo is by Reuters, not me.

In November 2020, I worked with Ed McAllister, chief west and central Africa correspondent for Reuters on a piece about the IDPs unable to vote in Burkina Faso’s upcoming election. You can read the article here. Photo is by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters.

In January 2020, Al Jazeera English asked me to write an analysis on why African countries are seeking more say in the Libya peace process. One of the reasons is that the conflict in Libya is having an impact on the Sahel conflict. You can read the full article here.

In May 2020, I contributed to this pan-African project by Reuters from Burkina Faso. The survey exposes the woeful lack of ventilators and ICU beds in many African countries and the difficulties they could face in dealing with coronavirus. You can see the full article and accompanying graphics here.

At the onset of coronavirus in Burkina Faso, many of the first to be diagnosed with the disease were government cabinet members. The first death was a member of the national assembly. My report for Reuters can be found on this link.

n October 2019, I moved to Burkina Faso to cover the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in country. This is one of my first stories from Burkina Faso, covering a French troop deployment to the north of the country. You can read the full article here.

In December 2016 Thomson Reuters Foundation commissioned me to visit the IDP camp in Bama, Northeast Nigeria.  The surrounding area and the town itself had been occupied by Boko Haram until the previous year. I told some of the stories of IDPs hoping to rebuild their lives in the wake of the insurgency. The original article was also syndicated to the New York Times among many others.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In February 2016 The Economist's Africa Editor commissioned me to visit Malawi for a story on the drought affecting Southern Africa. The story starts with Esther Manganjala (pictured) in her maize field showing me how tall her crop would usually be at this time of year.  You can read the full article here.  

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In January 2020 I wrote a piece for Al Jazeera English on a summit held in Pau between France and the G5 Sahel nations. The article includes a rundown of analysts’ reactions to the summit. You can read the full article here.

In March 2020, at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, I reported on how the disease could conflate with war in Burkina Faso and cause disastrous consequences. You can see the full article here.

In May 2019 I did a blind taste test of lab madew whiskey for the Telegraph. You can read the full article here.

In July 2020 I did some analysis for the International Bar Association on how the judicial system in Burkina Faso is exacerbating the conflict. You can read the full article here.

I reported from Ghana on a handful of startups using blockchain technology to record land ownership. The lack of credible land registries in developing countries causes major problems for development. You can read the full story here. (The image is from Thomson Reuters, not me). 

In June 2016 I visited the town of Majook close to South Sudan's northern border with Sudan. There I met 300 children abandoned by their parents who had fled the collapsing economy and hunger facing them. The piece was published by Al Jazeera English here and led to my being interviewed on Canadian national radio (CBC) about the situation in Majook and South Sudan more widely. You can listen to the interview here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

A follow up story on Togo’s continuing political crisis written from my desk in London in early 2019. Picture is not mine. You can read the full article here.

In December 2016 I was commissioned by Al Jazeera English to write a story on Nigerian President, Buhari's claim of "technical" victory against Boko Haram and what that meant for IDPs in Borno State on the bleeding edge of the government's conflict with the insurgency. You can read the full story here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In response to the attack on Manchester Arena, where 22 people were killed in a suicide bomber, I wrote a piece for the US publication 'The Atlantic' on the difficulty in preventing such attacks. You can read the full article here.

In February 2019 I took a look at disruptive technology in the whisky industry for the Economist’s Science and Technology section. It was good fun doing the ‘field research’ for this one. You can read the full story here.

In July 2015 NME asked me to attend a special performance by the Thurston Moore Band and Maria from Pussy Riot. I caught up with the punk rock icons in the green room after the show. You can see the full article here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In October 2014 I took a trip down to Marbella, Spain to check out arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi's former hunting lodge. The piece was co written with  Nayantara Ganesh and photographed by me. You can see the the full article on Vice.com here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

One of my reports for Reuters. A Human Rights Watch report revealed at least 180 bodies had been found in common graves in Djibo, a town in the north of Burkina Faso. From July 2020. You can read the article here.

Nayantara Ganesh and I talked to some of the people involved with the case of Dwaine George. You can find the full article here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In April 2015 Vice UK asked me to write an article about the US Military's swarming UAV project - LOCUST. I interviewed Lee Mastroianni, the project's manager, at the US Office of Naval Research about how LOCUST works. I also interviewed  Stephan Sonnenburg, a law professor at Stamford University, about how LOCUST could affect civillians. You can view a full version of the article here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In February 2016 the Gentleman's Journal commissioned me to write a follow up to my 2014 piece in which I visited the hunting lodge of infamous arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. It's a story of his rise and fall and features an interview with Robin Lynch, presenter of US TV show 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.' You can see the full article here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In March 2017 I wrote a piece for The New Internationalist on why inter country adoption has all but ceased in the UK. You can read the full article here.

A Reuters report I contributed to in January 2020 on another attack in Burkina, this time near Barsologho. You can read the article here.

I was commissioned to write a piece by The New Internationalist in June 2015. The Pakistani human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud had been assassinated in Karachi some weeks before. The piece centers around interviews with Sabeen's mother, who was with Sabeen at the time of the assassination as well as her friends and collaborators. I hoped it would give a sense of the challenges faced by those involved in the liberal arts scene in Pakistan. You can see the full article here. 

© Henry Wilkins 2016

An article I contributed to for Thomson Reuters in Togo, September 2017. You can see the full article here.