'I watch my back': Spike in BBC journalists living in exile
By Stephanie Hegarty
The number of BBC World Service journalists working in exile is estimated to have nearly doubled, to 310, since 2020.
The figures, released for the first time ahead of World Press Freedom Day, reflect press crackdowns in Russia, Afghanistan, and Ethiopia.
Journalists from other countries, including Iran, have lived abroad for more than a decade.
Many face jail sentences, death threats and harassment, both on and offline.
“The only way they can carry on reporting is to be forced out of their homes,” says the director of the BBC World Service, Liliane Landor. “The increase we’re seeing in the numbers of journalists in exile is extremely concerning for press freedom.”
When the Taliban took control in Afghanistan in August 2021, the BBC pulled most of its team out of the country. Female staff were no longer allowed to work, while their male colleagues also faced threats.
In 2022, after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia introduced a new censorship law, meaning anyone criticising the war could be prosecuted. “I’m calling a war, a war, and for that I could be easily jailed,” says Nina Nazarova, a correspondent for BBC Russian, which has moved its Moscow team to Latvia.
