The blog “Voices in Exile”: Supporting the professional integration of refugee journalists in France
Alix Fortin
Article
“Voices in Exile”: Supporting the professional integration of refugee journalists in France
Media
Published on thursday 3rd october 2024 at 00h00, updated at 15h21
At the end of September, Canal France International, SINGA, the Maison des Journalistes, and Reporters Without Borders launched the project “Voices in Exile.” Supported by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, this support program enables refugee journalists to continue their mission of informing the public while in France. Among them, Jean-Samuel Mentor, a Haitian journalist, is one of the 18 journalists who arrived in early September. He shares his journey from the Maison des Journalistes in Paris, where he is hosted.
“It’s hard to leave your country and arrive in another world.” Eight months ago, Jean-Samuel Mentor, 27, a multimedia journalist, fled his home country, Haiti. In early September, he joined the first cohort of the “Voices in Exile” support program at the Maison des Journalistes in the heart of Paris’s 15th arrondissement. Every year, France welcomes dozens of threatened journalists thanks to humanitarian visas, but the “Voices in Exile” project specifically focuses on reintegrating these media professionals.
“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”
Once in France, Jean-Samuel Mentor follows French current events closely. He listens to the radio, watches television news, and reads the press. His goal is clear: to remain the journalist he has always been. During a visit to the Var region, he contacted a well-known regional daily newspaper. “I wasn’t asking for work, just to talk and see how a French newsroom works.” But the newspaper’s doors remained closed to him. Seeing his dream slipping away, he applied to the first cohort of “Voices in Exile,” a program aimed at “facilitating the professional integration of exiled journalists in a context of stigmatization of foreigners, worsened by an already difficult situation for French media professionals,” explains Darline Cothière. Like Jean-Samuel Mentor, many exiled journalists face professional barriers upon arrival in France. Since 2002, the Maison des Journalistes has hosted over 500 refugee journalists from 85 different nationalities. Until now, it mainly offered temporary accommodation to journalists who fled their countries. But the “Voices in Exile” initiative, supported by the Quai d’Orsay, places greater emphasis on the professional projects of residents hosted by the Maison des Journalistes, notably through an online journal, L’Œil de la Maison des Journalistes, which helps them gain visibility and credibility with French newsrooms. “By continuing to write, we remain in the field. We leave a mark,” Jean-Samuel Mentor says with a smile. “They have a lot to offer French newsrooms, and this project is an incubator,” explains Darline Cothière.
A busy schedule and a hopeful future
The 18 exiled journalists in the first cohort have a packed agenda, including visits to Parisian museums, masterclasses on French press, and tours of the country’s largest newsrooms. Added to the Maison des Journalistes’ educational program is the awareness-raising initiative called “Renvoyé Spécial”, where residents share their migration stories in schools and prisons. This outlet is important for Jean-Samuel Mentor, who wants to share his story. “Since joining ‘Voices in Exile,’ I feel there is a little hope of being a journalist again. It’s important to share what we have experienced.” These men and women can find refuge for six months at the Maison des Journalistes, a former brush factory with colorful tiles and glass walls, donated by the city in 2003, with 14 rooms.
“Flourishing professionally in France”
Here, the Maison des Journalistes team supports both personal and professional aspects by offering psychological support and French language courses. “Since most journalists will settle in France, it is essential they master the language of the host country,” says Darline Cothière. For journalists who have left everything behind, the hope of returning home remains uncertain. “I sincerely hope to return one day, but the news I get from my family is worrying,” says Jean-Samuel Mentor. “Unless there is a radical regime change in their home countries, it is unlikely they will ever be able to return. They must therefore flourish professionally in France,” Victoria Lavenue explains.
Already in Haiti, Jean-Samuel Mentor aspired to work as a correspondent for RFI: “By choosing France as my refuge, I hope one day to collaborate with them.” And thus continue what drives him and what he has fought for all these years: to be a journalist.
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