Introduction

Journalists everywhere apply their skills to inform the public about what is being done in their name and with their money. Inevitably they face the risk of pressure from powerful elites.

In many parts of the world riven by war and poverty and ruled by despots, journalists are threatened, beaten, imprisoned, tortured and murdered simply for doing their job. In the 12 years to 2004, 1,100 media workers were 'killed in the line of duty' according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists records the stories of individual cases on its website and in its journal Dangerous Assignments.

According to Reporters Sans Fronti�res (RSF) more than 50 media workers were killed in 2004, and on 1 January 2005, 107 media professionals were in prison across the world. From the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 until September 2005, 99 journalists lost their lives covering the conflict.

Thousands more are subjected to physical attack, intimidation, arbitrary arrest and harassment every year. In North Korea, for example, journalists can be sent to brutal 're-education' camps simply for making spelling mistakes. In Turkmenistan, the few journalists who dare to work for the foreign media are routinely threatened and beaten-up. In Eritrea there has been no independent media since 2001 because editors and their staff are in prison and foreign correspondents are banned from the country.

On World Press Freedom Day 2003, the International News Safety Institute (INSI) was set up in Brussels to safeguard the lives of all journalists everywhere, and to help create a culture of safety in the media in all corners of the world. And for some years the Dart Centre for Trauma and Journalism has been advocating support for journalists affected by the human and natural disasters they have to cover, recently opening a European office.

Meanwhile, increasing numbers of those facing oppression and persecution find that they have no option but to flee their home and seek asylum in a safer country. This is not a new phenomenon, but all the indications are that the situation is worsening. There are no precise figures for the number of journalists forced into exile around the world, but in the UK alone the Exiled Journalists' Network set up by the MediaWise RAM Project has 156 members, and RSF is in touch with at least 73 journalists who have sought asylum in France.

This Report is an initial attempt to discover what support is currently available for exiled journalists in Europe. It examines the help and opportunities on offer in eleven countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the UK. Much of the research has been carried out by exiled journalists based in these countries.

We apologise in advance for any gaps in our knowledge, and this Report should be seen for what it is - a journalistic investigation designed to provide a snapshot of the current situation.

Each country report provides statistics and information about support work being done by journalists' unions and other NGOs. Some contain outlines of specific projects working with exiled journalists and case studies of personal experience. (RAM researchers contacted media and refugee organisations in several other countries, but could find no information about projects for exiled journalists.)

In describing some of the ground-breaking work that is being done to help exiles recover from the trauma of their experiences, and resume their careers in the media, this report seeks both to identify success stories that might bear replication in other countries, and to examine gaps in provision. As with our earlier RAM Report, the aim of this report is to encourage others to join in efforts to assist refugee and asylum-seeking journalists to find a new life.

Many exiled journalists have little choice about where they end up - like most refugees their ultimate destination is as likely to be a matter of happenstance as it is to reflect historical, family, professional or linguistic links with the country in which they attempt to settle. How they are treated and what help they are offered varies enormously, given the lack of internationally co-ordinated programmes to protect those living in fear of their lives.

Exiled journalists from past conflicts have moved on. In the UK, for example, Lionel Morrison, an exile from apartheid South Africa, became the first black President of the National Union of Journalists (UK & Ireland), and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, exiled from Idi Amin's Uganda, is now one of the UK's leading columnists. Many other will have had to abandon their chosen career to survive.

This Report is a call to everyone to remember the risks faced by journalists in different parts of the world, and to actively support attempts to ensure that press freedom is universally respected.

It is also a plea to governments, campaigners and media organisations to find new ways of working together to ensure that journalists driven into exile for providing the public with news, information and opinion have the opportunity to continue their important work as communicators. Their knowledge and experience could help us all to appreciate the causes of conflict, share understanding about the conditions faced by those they have left behind, and discover possible solutions to the circumstances that have sent them into exile.