East African journalists increasingly on the run, report findsBy AFRICA REVIEW Writer | Wednesday, June 20  2012 at  13:43

Eastern African journalists fleeing violence in their countries make up nearly half of the 464 journalists forced into exile in the past five years, a new report finds.

Prepared by the Committee to Protect Journalists  (CPJ), Journalists in Exile 2012 found that in the past 12 months, more than a quarter of the 57 journalists who fled their homes came from an eastern Africa nation.

Released on the World Refugee Day, the report says the greatest number fled violence in Somalia, where six journalists have been killed in 2012 and no journalist murders have been prosecuted since 1992.

The report names Eritrea and Ethiopia as the “worst jailers of journalists” and a good number of them have fled the two countries.

“There is a journalist refugee crisis in eastern Africa that has drastically affected the region’s ability to maintain media institutions that provide reliable, vital information,” said Maria Salazar-Ferro, CPJ Journalist Assistance programme coordinator and co-author of the report.

She added: “After enduring violence and threats, these journalists fled for their lives, only to land in a state of prolonged uncertainty as governments and the UN refugee agency process their cases.”

CPJ’s annual survey of journalists in exile counts those who fled due to work-related persecution in the past 12 months and provides an overview of the past five years.

CPJ is a New York-based, non profit organisation that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.