“Voices in Exile”: Supporting the professional integration of refugee journalists in France

“Often upon arrival in France, exiled journalists struggle to continue practicing and to join a professional network,” explains Darline Cothière, Director General of the Maison des Journalistes, a partner organization in the consortium that supports refugee journalists in returning to employment. “There are language barriers, equipment issues, and a lack of understanding of the French media landscape,” adds Victoria Lavenue, Head of Assistance at Reporters Without Borders, a partner responsible for advocacy in the project.

“We had become targets”

After journalism school and a few years of freelancing, Jean-Samuel Mentor, along with two colleagues, founded an independent online media outlet, Haiti News2000. He wrote Caribbean news and conducted some investigations. But everything went wrong last year when his colleague’s undercover report on an arms trafficking network was compromised. “We began receiving threatening messages and phone calls — which is unfortunately common for journalists working on sensitive cases in Haiti. The perpetrators want to silence us.” But the traffickers were not content to stop there, and threats escalated. “We were followed in the streets; we had to change routes and habits. I even started using public transportation.” Then one day armed men opened fire on his colleague’s house. This was no longer just intimidation; “we had become targets,” recalls the journalist. It was too dangerous, so the three founders decided to flee the country.

His two colleagues used the humanitarian corridor between Haiti and the United States. Jean-Samuel Mentor boarded the first plane to France, thanks to a visa he had obtained a few months earlier to collect third place at the prestigious Bayeux Prize. For other journalists, exile can be much more complicated, even when fulfilling asylum requirements.

“A journalist in danger may wait months to obtain a humanitarian visa and hope to be evacuated,” explains Victoria Lavenue. That is why the Maison des Journalistes supports refugee journalists daily with the complex administrative process of regularization. Due to these “practical and administrative” difficulties, the first cohort of “Voices in Exile” only includes journalists already refugees in France or the Schengen area, says the Maison des Journalistes’ Director General. For threatened journalists outside this zone, some are forced to transit through third countries while waiting, often unable to work. “The voices of these journalists are silenced in crises where we really need to hear them,” laments the head of assistance at Reporters Without Borders.

“By continuing to write, we remain in the field”
 

A busy schedule and a hopeful future

“Flourishing professionally in France”