Full Breakdown
Exiled Journalists Use Canada as Safe Base to Report Home Countries
6/3/2026, 10:27:25 PM
Safe Haven in Canada: Relocation and Ongoing Reporting
In September 2024, Ecuadorian journalists Anders Boscan and Monica Velasquez moved with their family to Oakville, Ontario after investigations into political-criminal collusion made them targets of violence. From suburban Toronto they produce a daily two-hour livestream that analyses Ecuadorian politics and organises interviews with sources still on the ground. Similar patterns appear among other exiles: Palestinian journalist Walid Batrawi now lives in the Greater Toronto Area, writing a weekly Arabic column and building an online directory that links Canadian newsrooms with reporters abroad; Afghan editor-in-chief Zahra Nader runs Zan Times from Toronto, publishing stories under pseudonyms to protect contributors in Afghanistan.
Press Freedom Landscape: Global Decline and Canada’s Relative Position
Reporters Without Borders placed Canada 20th out of 180 nations in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, while the United States fell to 64th, a drop attributed in part to former President Donald Trump’s systematic attacks on the press. The Committee to Protect Journalists recorded 130 journalists killed worldwide in 2023, two-thirds of those deaths occurring in Israel/Palestine, and noted 35 journalists imprisoned in the occupied territories. These trends underscore why Canada’s comparatively stable environment attracts journalists fleeing repression.
Profiles of Exiled Journalists and Supporting Organizations
- Anders Boscan & Monica Velasquez – Co-founders of the Ecuadorian outlet *La Posta*; sold the site after remote newsroom management proved unsustainable.
- Walid Batrawi – Veteran Palestinian reporter; developing a subscription-based directory to connect exiled journalists with Canadian media.
- Zahra Nader – Afghan journalist; self-funded *Zan Times* since 2022, now reliant on voluntary donations after grant reductions.
- Brent Jolly – President, Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ).
- Jesse Clarke – Board member, Free Speech Centre, a Toronto-based nonprofit founded by an Afghan journalist.
Key Data on Journalist Safety
Official Statements from Canadian Media Bodies
CAJ President Brent Jolly noted the absence of precise statistics on exiled journalists in the GTA but highlighted Toronto’s ethnic diversity and growing U.S. hostility as pull factors. He called for stronger measures against online hate, harassment, and barriers to government documents, and announced CAJ’s plan to launch an exiled-journalists caucus this summer. Free Speech Centre board member Jesse Clarke warned that limited grant funding hampers media sustainability and urged the federal government to extend its academic-recruitment initiatives to support exiled journalists, emphasizing Canada’s capacity to bolster critical external scrutiny.
Criticism and Operational Challenges
Boscan described the logistical strain of managing a dispersed newsroom, which forced the sale of *La Posta*. Nader reported that funding from Internews and other donors has largely dried up, leaving her publication financially precarious. Jolly acknowledged persistent online harassment of journalists operating in Canada, suggesting that safety protections remain insufficient.
On-the-Ground Perspectives
- Boscan: “Canada is allowing us with its security to do what we cannot do on the ground in Ecuador.”
- Boscan: “When I came here, I only had my camera and my laptop, and I had no colleagues, so I reinvented to be (a) simple and one-man show.”
- Batrawi: “The idea is to bring to the attention of the newsrooms that these people exist.”
- Batrawi: “Everyone dreams that one day they will go back to their homeland… I will have to go back to Palestine.”
- Nader: “They are in a very, very difficult situation.”
Verbatim Quotes
- “Canada is allowing us with its security to do what we cannot do on the ground in Ecuador,” — Anders Boscan, Journalist
- “When I came here, I only had my camera and my laptop, and I had no colleagues, so I reinvented to be (a) simple and one-man show,” — Anders Boscan, Journalist
- “The idea is to bring to the attention of the newsrooms that these people exist,” he said.” — Walid Batrawi, Journalist
- “They are in a very, very difficult situation,” — Zahra Nader, Editor-in-Chief, Zan Times
- “We just need a little bit of support and that little bit support is not yet there for me in Canada.” — Zahra Nader, Editor-in-Chief, Zan Times
- “The idea of the free press in America is certainly something that's being, well, under attack and being rethought,” — Brent Jolly, President, Canadian Association of Journalists
What Lies Ahead: Support Initiatives and Future Plans
CAJ’s forthcoming exiled-journalists caucus aims to facilitate newsroom integration and provide mentorship. Organizations such as the Free Speech Centre advocate for expanded grant programs to ensure financial viability for outlets like *Zan Times*. Several exiles, including Batrawi, express a long-term intention to return to their homelands once conditions permit, while continuing to leverage Canada’s protections to maintain external scrutiny of authoritarian practices.
