Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF) today launches its new report, “Fleeing War Does Not Mean Safety: Transnational Repression Against Sudanese Journalists in Egypt,” released ahead of World Press Freedom Day, at a time when risks facing journalists in contexts of conflict and exile are steadily increasing. The report documents serious patterns of violations faced by Sudanese journalists and media workers who sought refuge in Egypt following the outbreak of armed conflict in Sudan in April 2023.
Based on qualitative documentation and direct, evidence‑supported testimonies, the report reveals that leaving Sudan did not end the targeting of journalists, but rather relocated it to a new context where repressive practices linked to parties to the conflict in the country of origin intersect with a fragile legal and security environment in the country of asylum. The report documents three core cases of Sudanese journalists who experienced interconnected chains of violations spanning from inside Sudan to Egypt, in addition to monitoring other incidents that occurred between 2025 and 2026 involving Sudanese journalists and writers in Cairo.
The documented violations include physical assaults, digital threats, physical surveillance, theft of documents, attempted assassinations, as well as smear campaigns and incitement. The report also highlights the targeting of journalists’ family members inside Sudan as a means of pressure in exile, a pattern commonly referred to as “proxy repression.” The report underscores what it describes as a “three‑dimensional siege” faced by journalists in exile: physical repression, digital repression, and legal and security pressures, including threats of detention or deportation.
The report further sheds light on the exploitation of the legal vulnerability of asylum seekers in Egypt, amid tightened entry and residency policies and the use of deportation threats as a tool of coercion. Such practices constitute a violation of the principle of non‑refoulement and Egypt’s international obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and other relevant international legal instruments.
The report concludes that these violations do not represent isolated incidents, but rather reflect a broader pattern of transnational repression that turns countries of asylum into extensions of the space of targeting, producing a severe chilling effect on freedom of expression and journalistic work in exile.
The report puts forward a set of recommendations addressed to multiple stakeholders, including Egyptian authorities, journalists’ unions, the United Nations and its relevant mechanisms, as well as parties to the conflict in Sudan. In this context, the report urges the Egyptian authorities to take urgent measures to ensure the protection of Sudanese journalists residing in Egypt, to conduct serious and independent investigations into all documented attacks and threats, and to refrain from using legal or security frameworks—including residency and immigration laws—as tools of intimidation or pressure. The report also calls on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to give the highest priority to applications submitted by journalists at risk of transnational repression, particularly with regard to protection and resettlement procedures, and urges UN mechanisms concerned with freedom of expression and the protection of human rights defenders to monitor these patterns of abuse and to include them in their periodic reports and official communications with concerned states.
📄 To view the full analysis and detailed recommendations, you can read and download the complete report in English via the following PDF file:
