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When war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, a group of young Sudanese filmmakers were forced into exile. They also had to rethink their film. Khartoum (2025) had started out a year earlier as a collection of quiet observational sketches of ordinary lives in the capital. Now, it had to be reimagined as both the storytellers and their subjects scattered across borders.
On a typical evening in the heart of Paris, Taha Siddiqui can be found at his bar, greeting customers and pouring drinks. During busy nights, he’s organizing events there, with an Afghan poet reading her work, anti-war Russian musicians in a punk band, or a director sharing their documentary — all, like him, finding refuge in France. But long before he became a bar owner, Siddiqui was one of Pakistan’s most high-profile investigative journalists, determined to expose corruption and government abuses. In 2018, he fled to Paris, where he has lived in exile ever since.
In 2015, over a million people from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq sought safety in Germany, including journalists. This movement reshaped politics, society, and journalism, raising new challenges. The latest “Bonjourno” podcast episode explores the experiences and challenges of exile journalism in this context.
With all civil liberties stripped away in Nicaragua, independent journalism in exile has become the last stronghold of freedom to investigate and report the truth. Earlier this month, for International Journalists’ Day (September 8), we shared a special feature on Nicaraguan journalism that has resisted and overcome censorship in Nicaragua for more than seven years.
The systematic and relentless persecution orchestrated by the Ortega-Murillo regime has led to the closure, confiscation, and expulsion of hundreds of independent media outlets and journalists from the country. For many, exile has become the only way to escape censorship, threats, and physical attacks – and to continue reporting.
For over four decades, Persian-language media in exile have played an influential, often contentious role in shaping public discourse about Iran. Emerging in response to the silencing of dissent and the monopolization of narratives by the Islamic Republic, these media outlets created a parallel space of dialogue and imagination.
Lucía Pineda Ubau is the director of the news channel 100% Noticias and has been living in exile in Costa Rica since 2019. Her homeland, Nicaragua, has been under repressive rule since 2007, when President Daniel Ortega started systematically building an autocratic government, including pressuring political opponents who were increasingly criticizing him.
In this DJV-podcast episode, host Sascha Fobbe speaks with Heba Alkadri and Ahmad Shihabi about the challenges journalists with migration backgrounds face. They discuss learning German, pursuing journalism, and representing their communities. Both share their experiences from Syria, the impact of Assad’s fall, and struggles tied to refugee policies in Germany.
The “She Speaks Sudan” initiative has provided a critical platform for training, mentorship, and collaboration. Among its participants is Amal Mohamed Elhassan Ali, a Sudanese journalist now based in Kenya, who continues to document war crimes, human rights violations, and political struggles. In this interview, she reflects on the resilience required to report on Sudan’s conflict.
Ten years ago, Borhan Akid had to flee from Syria—head over heels, away from his family, away from Damascus. He traveled through Greece to Germany, where he ended up in Cologne, learned German, and became a journalist at WDR. Now—after the fall of dictator Assad—he feels drawn back. How does it feel to be in his old homeland?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?