Every year, dozens of journalists are forced to leave their homes under threat of imprisonment, torture, violence, or even death, because their work has angered the powerful. In honour of World Refugee Day on 20 June, CPJ presents some of their stories.
Every year, dozens of journalists are forced to leave their homes under threat of imprisonment, torture, violence, or even death, because their work has angered the powerful. Over the past 12 months, the Committee to Protect Journalists has supported 42 journalists around the world who were forced to flee, with Syria, Ethiopia, and Eritrea responsible for the most cases of exile. These are some of their stories.
Most of the journalists CPJ has assisted in exile had little or no warning that they would be forced to flee, to undertake a journey of trauma and uncertainty. While their experiences have much in common with ordinary refugees, CPJ research shows that journalists’ high profiles leave them particularly vulnerable to certain dangers and that the persecution they faced at home often follows them across borders. Furthermore, the media community left behind is often intimidated into self-censorship and the public deprived of information. CPJ is releasing its annual survey of journalists in exile to mark World Refugee Day, June 20.
While each journalist in exile has a unique tale to tell, every reporter, broadcaster, photojournalist, videographer, editor, blogger, and media worker forced to flee experiences similar dangers and must overcome similar milestones to reach any new semblance of normal life. This timeline looks in detail at the journeys into exile of eight journalists from around the world who fled their homes in recent years and sought support from CPJ. All of their comments are from interviews with the organization.
View the timeline on CPJ’s site.
