The British photographer Marcus Bleasdale is the winner of this year's international photographic contest "UNICEF Photo of the Year". His photo shows a refugee child in Darfur, Northern Region of Sudan. The Arab militia on horse back drove the girl and her mother away from their village and burnt down their huts.

"The UNICEF photo of the Year 2004 is giving a "face" to the biggest refugee tragedy worldwide: It is the face of a child",

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Germany's First Lady and UNICEF patroness Eva Luise Köhler said at the presentation in Berlin. Mostly unnoticed by the public, the refugee disaster in Darfur is worsening. 70,000 people died already, more than 1.6 million are displaced.

Displaced by recent conflicts her village has been burned down. It is estimated that there are 800.000 displaced people in Darfour who are trapped on the East, West and South by government troops and in the North by the desert wasteland, which will certainly claim the lives of weaker family members and of their livestock. UN consider the situation in Da r fur the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. The Khartoum Government is responsible for systematic killings in the region. More than 200 ,000 people escaped across the bo r der to Chad.

The British photographer Marcus Bleasdale travelled to the Darfour-area in June 2004.