Nearly 70 journalists exiled in past year

The report, which was released by American organisation The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to coincide with World Refugee Day, said that over half of those driven into exile were from Cuba and Iran.

Both countries, which each forced 18 journalists to flee in the 12 months between June 1 2010 and May 31 2011 2011, are well known for their repressive attitudes towards the press. Last year, Cuba was ranked in 166th place and Iran in 175th place out of 178 countries in the annual press freedom rankings compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

Iran, which has witnessed a particularly brutal crackdown on press freedom ever since the much-disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, was also named "the world's worst jailer of the press" in the report, alongside China. In December, there were at least 34 journalists imprisoned in the country.

Imprisonment, or the fear of imprisonment, was found to be the main reason for fleeing abroad, accounting for 82 per cent of cases, while 15 per cent left because of physical or threatened attacks. Three per cent said that "prolonged harassment" – which the CPJ defined as “frequent interrogation or surveillance” – had caused them to leave.

Elisabeth Witchel, the study's author, said that although the number of journalists driven into exile in the past 12 months was slightly lower than the record 85 noted in the CPJ's 2010 report, this year's report had revealed “an unusually high number of journalists forced to relocate within their own nations”. 23 journalists, including 12 Ivory Coast journalists who had to be air-lifted by the UN from conflict in the city of Abidjan, were forced to work elsewhere in their home country in the time period, compared to just 50 over the last decade.

Source: Telegraph