UNHCR

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Taliban arrests 2 journalists on assignment with United Nations

New York, February 11, 2022 — The Taliban must immediately release Andrew North and all other journalists held for their work, and cease harassing and detaining members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Taliban forces in Kabul arrested North, a former BBC journalist on assignment for the UN High Commissioner for…

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Protestors holding signs

At-risk journalists who must flee home countries often find few quick and safe options

In 2018, journalist Mohammad Shubaat was in Daraa, Syria, caught between advancing forces aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the closed borders of Israel and Jordan. Despite the dire threat to Shubaat and many of his colleagues, it would take over a year of intense negotiations with some 20 countries by the Committee to…

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Sri Lankan journalist in UAE still at risk of deportation

Lohini Rathimohan, a former television journalist from Sri Lanka, faces an unclear future. The 28-year-old is among 15 Tamil refugees still sheltered in a single room of an aluminum factory at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port whose official statuses remain uncertain.

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Somali refugees in Kenya are ordered to report to the Dadaab refugee camp, which already holds more than 450,000 people. (Mohamed Abdi)

Somalis in Kenya hounded by security forces, refugee policy

Exiled Somali journalists living in Nairobi were struck with disbelief this week when daily newspapers published a statement by the Department of Refugee Affairs ordering all Somali refugees to move to refugee camps. “The refugees, particularly those living in urban centers, are contributing to insecurity in the country,” the statement read. The acting commissioner for…

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The chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Paulo Pinheiro, has criticized Syria's policy on the media but refrained from blaming the regime for journalists' deaths. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)

Chair of UN panel on Syria pledges to probe attacks

Paulo Pinheiro, the chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, is a seasoned diplomat trained in the tradition of Brazil’s foreign affairs ministry, Itamaraty, with its celebrated emphasis on impartial mediation, dialogue, and strong skepticism toward foreign intervention to resolve international conflicts.

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Ethiopian officials were defiant in the face of U.N. questioning (UN)

UNHCHR grills Ethiopia on anti-terror law

This week, the Human Rights Committee of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reviewed Ethiopia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including its press freedom record. Peppered with questions about an indefensible record of abuse–jailing the second largest number of journalists in Africa and leading the continent in Internet censorship–representatives…

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