PAKISTAN: Journalists flee Swat valley en masse

Reporters Without Borders Tuesday said it was alarmed by the situation in the Swat valley as the Pakistani armed forces step up their operations against the Taliban there. Newspapers had already stopped publishing after the military imposed a curfew. Now journalists are fleeing to safer areas. The Khyber Union of Journalists today urged the government to allow the media access to Mingora, the largest city in the valley.“It is now impossible to get independently-sourced information about what is happening in the Swat valley,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Journalists are fleeing en masse. None of them wants to stay there anymore. We urge the authorities to issue journalists with permits that allow them to circulate during curfew hours. We also call for immediate measures to guarantee the security of journalists, so that they can return to the valley and resume working there.”

Reporters Without Borders added: “The Swat valley has become a lawless area without news media and without journalists. This situation is unacceptable and must be remedied by the government at once.”
At a news conference today, Khyber Union of Journalists president Mohammad Riaz said: “There is a complete blackout of news from Swat, Buner and Dir. There is no source of dissemination of news. No one is aware about the actual situation.”

Swat press club president Salahuddin Khan told Reporters Without Borders yesterday that all the journalists had left the valley and that it was “now without any news media.”

Veteran journalists such as Ghulam Farroq, the editor of Shamal, and Fayyaz Zafar, the editor of the online newspaper Zama Swat, left Swat on 7 May and moved to cities such as Peshawar. “I have just left with my family and I am staying with a friend a long way from Mingora as journalism is no longer an easy trade to practice,” Farroq told Reporters Without Borders by phone.

A few journalists such as TV reporter Shireezada had been holding on despite the danger. He told Reporters Without Borders a few days ago: “Let’s hope nothing serious happens.” He said he had stockpiled fuel and food for the difficult days to come. He was the last reporter to try to provide information about what was happening in the combat zone.

Shireezada finally pulled out for safety reasons yesterday. “I have also left Swat with my family because it is extremely hard to be a journalist in the current situation,” he said. “Swat is now without any journalists.”
Shireezada said there were still several thousand inhabitants trapped in Mingora waiting for the end of the curfew in order to leave for safer areas. He added that they would soon run out of water and food because of the lack of electricity and the curfew.
15 May 2009

PAKISTAN
Emergency funds for journalists who have had to flee Swat valley fighting
Reporters Without Borders has sent emergency funds to help the dozens of Swat valley journalists who have been forced to flee the area because of fighting between the Pakistani army and the Taliban.

More than 30 journalists and their families have had to seek refuge in Peshawar and other cities since the army launched its offensive against Islamist militants in the Swat valley. The valley’s newspapers have had to stop publishing and most of their journalists are now without any means of support.

“Like hundreds of thousands of their fellow citizens, the journalists and their families have had to flee the extreme violence in the Swat region,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Unable to work, these journalists must now concentrate on finding shelter and food for their loved-ones. Reporters Without Borders has sent 5,000 euros in emergency funds which the Khyber Union of Journalists will distribute to help meet their initial needs for housing, food and medical care for themselves and their children.”

“The humanitarian crisis is likely to persist so these funds must be seen as just a first step paving the way for massive support for these journalists, whose flight has left the Swat valley without media coverage,” Reporters Without Borders added. “We appeal to international news media, journalists unions and organisations that defend the press to mobilise resources to help their Swat valley colleagues.”

Khyber Union of Journalists president Mohammad Riaz has issued an appeal on behalf of the Swat valley’s media and displaced journalists. No security measures have so far been taken that would enable the media to resume operating the in valley.