Journalists
across the world continue to be targeted on a daily basis for the work they
carry out.
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Displaced
Kenyan people, residents of a camp for the internally displaced named
"Kihoto"
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Each
year, on June 20, people across the globe mark World Refugee Day, highlighting
the problems that cause people to flee their countries while raising awareness
and support for those who have been forced to leave their homes behind as well
as celebrating the courage and resilience of refugees around the world.
Against
this backdrop, Doha Centre for Media Freedom continues to shed light on the
cases of journalists facing such terrible persecution that they felt compelled
to abandon their homes and seek safe haven elsewhere.
Political
instability, tribal conflicts, individual vendettas and any number of
additional issues can lead to journalists opting to relocate rather than remain
at home. Journalists’ own professionalism, and the work they have carried
out in uncovering corruption and contributing towards the development of
investigative journalism has also exacerbated the situation in many
countries. For partaking in quality journalism and defending media
freedom, journalists are forced to choose a new country in which to live.
In
truth, this decision often boils down to a choice between life and death, which
is no choice at all.
Even
after deciding to seek new pastures, journalists face a myriad of difficulties
in reaching their adopted homes and often lack the basic paperwork required to
travel safely and legally.
Should
they reach their intended destination, these media workers are then faced with
assimilating into a new country without any form of guidance or
assistance. Often penniless, homeless and completely isolated, these
individuals realise that they have left one hardship only to find themselves
firmly embroiled in another. While many are totally alone, others manage
to travel with family members. This may be preferable to resettling by
themselves, but it also increases their burden and the need to secure food and
shelter.
There
is a pressing need to address the issue of exiled journalists. While it
is essential that media workers who find themselves in such dire circumstances
are provided with assistance which can help them get back on their feet, it is
equally important to work on sustainable programmes which will assist them in
the long term.
Similarly,
there is a critical need to address the issues which contribute towards
journalists being forced into exile. Perhaps the most dangerous threat to
journalism and media freedom across the globe is impunity. Journalists
around the world continue to be targeted because of the work they carry out;
many are attacked, imprisoned, threatened and even killed simply for working
for the cause of truth and defending the basic human right to information.
Until
the culture of impunity infesting so many nations around the world is
eradicated, journalists will continue to find themselves in situations where
they feel the need to live in exile.
This
is particularly true in East Africa, which currently homes more exiled
journalists than any other region in the world.
Doha
Centre for Media Freedom recently visited Kenya and Uganda to meet with East
African journalists and investigate the issues they face having relocated from
their home countries. The mission’s findings will be published in a
research report entitled No
home from home: the plight of East African exiled journalists in
the coming week, which will include a number of recommendations for the best
ways to assist journalists in exile in the future.
This
year, on World Refugee Day, DCMF is expressing support to those who lack the
basic safety and security of a home, and highlighting the need for press
freedom, human rights and other rights organisations to unite to make a
significant change to the lives of exiled journalists around the world.
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