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Editor in exile: One journalist’s daring escape from Myanmar

  • Index on Censorship
  • Ian Wylie

Kyaw Min Swe, the former editor-in-chief of weekly newspaper Aasan (The Voice) and executive director of the Myanmar Journalism Institute, has been a journalist for more than 25 years. He had been detained before, but this time was different. Index traveled to Germany to meet exiled newspaper editor Kyaw, who faced torture and imprisonment at the hands of the military junta.

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Flight and Fight: Supporting Journalists in Exile

    The issue of exiled journalists goes beyond individual stories of courage. It strikes at the heart of human rights. Journalists are in exile because their most basic human rights—particularly the right to freedom of expression—are being systematically denied. These are not isolated incidents; they are symptoms of broader failures to uphold international norms and hold oppressive regimes accountable.

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    Activist and Blogger Lu Yuyu On Escaping China

    • The Guardian
    • Amy Hawkins

    Chinese dissident Lu Yuyu’s perilous escape from China reveals the high stakes of documenting unrest under an authoritarian regime. Once jailed for exposing protests, Lu now rebuilds his life in Canada while navigating China’s growing digital censorship.

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    Syria: “I Haven’t Cried So Much in so Long”

    • CNN

    At the start of the Syrian civil war, citizen journalist Rami Jarrah picked up a camera to document Assad government atrocities. He says, “We’ve been given our country back, and we have the opportunity now to build it.”

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    A North Korean Voice That Kim Jong-un Would Like to Silence

    • The New York Times
    • Choe Sang-Hun

    Defying cancer and constant threats, North Korean defector Kim Seongmin broadcasts uncensored news into North Korea, challenging Pyongyang’s grip on information. Through Free North Korea Radio, he inspires hope among those isolated by censorship—even as Kim Jong-un tightens his authoritarian rule.

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    “Journalists Will Continue Their Work Despite Repression”

    • Confidecial / Havana Times
    • Carlos F. Chamorro

    After 813 days in solitary confinement, Guatemalan journalist Jose Ruben Zamora returns home, committed to exposing corruption despite heavy repression. In this interview, Zamora discusses the ongoing threats to press freedom under Guatemala’s authoritarian regime and his determination to continue the fight.

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    Chinese Journalist Dai Qing’s Quiet Life in Exile

    • Radio Free Asia

    Veteran Chinese journalist Dai Qing, 83, now lives in exile in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she is working on her forthcoming book “Notes on History”. A prominent critic of the Three Gorges Dam project and a supporter of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Dai now enjoys a quiet life among a community of exiled Chinese intellectuals, reflecting on her past activism while staying informed about China’s current political climate.

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    Media in Exile is Defeating Censorship in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela

    • Cinfidencial
    • Carlos F. Chamorro

    Journalists in exile from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela continue to resist authoritarian censorship despite extreme repression. Awarded the IAPA’s Grand Prize for Press Freedom, they highlight the challenges and innovations necessary to sustain independent journalism amid growing threats.

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    Journalists In Exile Expose Government Brutality

    • Outlook
    • Shweta Desai

    Netra News, an independent news outlet in exile, is known for its rare feat in investigative reportage exposing corruption in the Bangladesh government and abuse of security agencies. Outlook spoke to its founder Tasneem Khalil on running an online news platform from Sweden, tracking political instability and protests in Bangladesh.

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    Turkey: Exiled Journalist Reveals State-Politics-Relations

    • Turkish Minute

    Can Dündar, a Turkish journalist and author living in exile, has uncovered shady relations between the deep state and politicians in Turkey based on the narratives from a series of videos released by notorious Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker in 2021.

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    Yavuz Baydar Reflects on Life as a Turkish Exiled Journalist

    • Körber Stiftung

    Yavuz Baydar is an award-winning journalist, editor and analyst in Turkish and international media. Since the failed Turkish coup d’etat in 2016 Yavuz Baydar has had to live and work in exile. In conversation with Diana Huth, Yavuz Baydar analyzes the geopolitical implications of the 2024 elections and calls for greater support for exile journalism.

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    Drug-related Violence Fuels an Exodus of Ecuador’s Press

    • Committee to Protect Journalists
    • John Otis

    On the only radio station in the remote Ecuadorian town of Baeza, morning show host Juan Carlos Tito updates listeners on the weather, recent power outages, and repairs to a bridge spanning a nearby river. For the last 24 years, Tito, 53, has been the trusted voice of Radio Selva, broadcasting important community news to this town of 2,000 in the Andean highlands. But now, Tito’s voice is beamed into Baeza from abroad.

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    Back to Zero. Journalists in German Exile

    • WDR
    • Patrick Batarilo

    In recent years, Germany has become a place of refuge for hundreds of journalists who have had to flee their home countries. Many now continue to work from here and try to improve conditions in their countries of origin. Can they succeed?

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    How Dev.by Stays Afloat as an Independent Publisher

    • The Fix
    • Tatsiana Ashurkevich

    One of the Belarusian media outlets that has survived in exile is Dev.by, a publisher dedicated to the IT industry in Belarus and the world, producing news, interviews, reports, and analytics. The organisation operates in spite of constant threats and lack of funding. Dev.by’s CEO and founder Artiom Kontsevoi shared with The Fix how they manage to operate in such unstable conditions.

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    Trouble with the Truth

    • Justice for Journalists Foundation
    • Lana Estemirova

    Trouble with the Truth is the podcast produced by Lana Estemirova in partnership with the Justice for Journalists Foundation. Lana talks to journalists from around the world who face persecution just for doing their job and lets her audience hear voices that usually remain hidden.

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    Who Is Telling Eritrea’s Stories?

    • IJNet
    • Aurora Martínez

    Since 1993, Eritrea’s regime has suppressed media and freedom of expression. Exiled journalists defy censorship to inform their fellow citizens and keep independent reporting alive. IJNet puts some of them in the spotlight.

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    Exiled, Not Silenced

    • WAN-IFRA
    • Lucinda Jordaan

    She has been actively developing grassroots journalism in a region where ethnic minorities have struggled to have their stories heard in the face of the dominant community’s influence. Now in exile, Nan Paw Gays commitment to advancing the voices of the ethnic minorities in Myanmar continues. In an interview with WAN-IFRA she shares thoughts and experiences of her journey in exile.

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