Forced to flee: Exiled journalists remain unsafe

Begum TV is a channel led by Afghan journalists in exile in France. (Photo: AFP/ Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt)

Threats, repression, conflict, and unrest: across the world, these and other factors are pushing journalists into exile in record numbers. In a striking development, exiled or soon-to-be exiled journalists now make up more than half of the people CPJ assists. Between January and June 2024, CPJ provided financial support to 158 journalists; 101, or about 64% of these people had fled their home countries or were in the process of fleeing.

These figures demonstrate the dire needs of journalists in exile, and the bitter reality that exile is not the end of a journalist’s problems but in many cases just the beginning. 

Unless journalists have dual citizenship, preexisting visas, or the ability to acquire an emergency visa, they may have to remain in a transit country while seeking permanent resettlement to a third country, a process that can take months or years. Many transit countries also have poor press freedom records.

In a new CPJ special report, Emergencies Director Lucy Westcott explains why so many journalists remain insecure in exile.

More in the report:
-Feature: The exodus of Ecuador’s press
-Feature: Exiled Ethiopian journalists struggle
–CPJ’s recommendations on emergency visas
–CPJ emergency assistance information