A/HRC/56/53 I. Introduction 1. Journalists in exile is not a new phenomenon, but it has gained momentum in recent years, because of the severe pressure on public interest media in many countries around the world and the growing possibilities, created by digital technology, for journalists to operate from abroad when they are no longer able to do so safely from home. Free, independent, diverse and pluralistic media play a vital role in supporting democracy, informing the public and holding the powerful to account. It is either absent or severely constrained in over a third of the countries in the world, where more than two thirds of the world’s population live. 1 The space for independent and critical media is shrinking in democratic States where authoritarian trends are gaining ground, leaving many journalists with no option but to leave their home countries. 2. Armed conflicts have long been a major cause for journalists to seek refuge abroad. In recent years, political repression has become the predominant factor forcing thousands of journalists to leave their countries. Some have been expelled by their Governments. Many have fled their home country to save their lives or to escape detention and imprisonment on trumped up charges. Most have left their countries so that they can investigate and report freely without fear or favour. In some countries, not only have individual journalists left, but entire media outlets, and even complete independent media sectors, have moved out. 2 3. The precise scale of the problem is difficult to assess, in the absence of data from receiving States. Most estimates are based on the numbers of cases of exiled journalists to whom international non-governmental organizations, press freedom groups and media development organizations have provided financial and material assistance in recent years. 3 While such data do not capture the full scale of the problem, they point to a clear upward trend of journalists in exile that tracks the rise in authoritarianism and political repression worldwide. 4. Exiled journalists fulfil a vital need for public interest news for audiences at home as well as around the world. They are often an important alternative for, and possibly the sole independent source of, information about events in conflict zones or in countries where freedom of expression is severely restricted. With their deep knowledge of the country, broad networks and distinct sources, they provide diverse perspectives, challenge official narratives and counter disinformation, which may be difficult for foreign media and dangerous for local media to do. In the absence of exiled media, there would be informational black holes and zones of silence on issues of concern to global and national communities.4 5. For some journalists in exile, their work is also a way to preserve the struggle for truth, justice and democracy in beleaguered societies. According to one journalist, “I saw my people suffering, being killed, being forcefully disappeared. I wanted to be their voice. I wanted to bring their stories to the world.”5 6. Exiled journalists often find themselves in precarious situations, vulnerable to physical, digital and legal threats against them and their families from their home State, and without assured legal status or adequate support to continue their profession in their country of refuge. Female journalists removed from their families and with no legal status are at increased risk of sexual abuse and exploitation, with no channels for redress. 6 7. Fearing for their own safety or that of their families back home and struggling to survive financially and overcome the many challenges of living in a foreign country, many 1 2 3 4 5 6 2 A total of 72 per cent of the world’s population live under authoritarian rule according to Varieties of Democracy Institute, Democracy Report 2023: Defiance in the Face of Autocratization (2023), p. 6. Submission from Inter-American Press Association. As an example, according to the submission from the Committee to Protect Journalists, its support to exiled journalists jumped 227 per cent between 2020 and 2022. Submission from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Jessica White, Grady Vaughan and Yana Gorokhovskaia, “A light that cannot be extinguished: exiled journalism and transnational repression” (Freedom House, 2023), p. 9. Submission from International Media Support. GE.24-06673