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Category: entry

  • Georgia increasingly blocks entry to Western journalists amid authoritarian turn

    When British investigative journalist Will Neal was turned back at Georgia’s border with Armenia in May, he became the fifth of at least six European journalists in recent months to be denied entry into a country once seen as a regional leader for press freedom. Neal, who had lived in Georgia since 2022, was expelled just weeks after publishing an investigation into ties between Georgian ruling circles and a Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch.

    Alongside an ever more restrictive environment for local journalists, increasingly, Georgia has been denying entry to Western journalists, all freelancers. This crackdown comes as the ruling conservative Georgian Dream party clamps down on mass protests and political opposition following allegations of fraud in the country’s October 2024 parliamentary elections.     

    Media repression had already intensified on the heels of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, since which Georgia has denied entry to at least eight Russian journalists associated with Kremlin-critical outlets, as well as two journalists from other post-Soviet countries with critical or pro-Western views. 

    Neal’s denial of entry “was clearly intended to dissuade me from further reporting on the vested interests behind the ruling party’s ongoing abuse of power,” he told CPJ. 

    Before leaving Georgia in April, Neal had been the target of a sustained smear campaign by Georgian Dream officials and the pro-government press. His investigation in the British news outlet Byline Times revealed cooperation between a U.K.-registered private equity firm with reported close ties to Georgia’s alleged de facto ruler, Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Georgian Dream leaders accused Neal of being part of an international “deep state” anti-Georgia conspiracy. 

    “The story clearly hit a nerve,” Neal told CPJ. 

    An unprecedented wave

    Mamuka Andguladze, chair of the local Media Advocacy Coalition, told CPJ that the recent blocking of Western journalists is “unprecedented” and a “very deliberate policy” by Georgian Dream “to limit critical coverage.” 

    CPJ knows of at least five other instances in the past eight months in which Western journalists have been denied entry:

    • On October 22, 2024, four days before the elections, border guards at Tbilisi airport blocked the entry of Czech freelance reporter Ray Baseley and held him for 34 hours before placing him on a plane to Poland, Basely wrote on X. He previously had reported on mass protests against Georgian Dream’s introduction of a “foreign agent” law in May 2024 and told the International Press Institute that he believes this was the reason for his denial. The law requires nonprofits and media outlets receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “organizations pursuing the interests of a foreign power.” An even harsher law, passed in April 2025, carries prison terms of up to five years.
    • On election day, October 26, 2024, border guards refused entry to Swiss photojournalist Stephan Goss, who had covered protests against the “foreign agent” law. Guards confiscated his phone and held him for 12 hours before placing him on a flight to Dubai. 
    • On February 12, 2025, French freelance journalist Clément Girardot was denied entry. Authorities also revoked Girardot’s residence permit after he reported on Georgian Dream’s growing authoritarianism for publications like France’s Le Monde and Belgium’s Le Soir.
    • On March 30, 2025, officials denied entry to Jérôme Chobeaux, a freelance photojournalist with the Italian agency NurPhoto. Chobeaux, who had covered the anti-government protests, was held for six hours without access to his phone before boarding a plane to Greece.
    • On June 11, 2025, border guards at Kutaisi International Airport refused entry to French documentary photographer Marylise Vigneaux. Vigneaux told CPJ that she believed she most likely had been targeted over a collection of her protest photos exhibited at a photo festival in Tbilisi in May.

    CPJ emailed the Georgian Dream party and Georgian border police for comment but did not receive any replies.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Vietnamese monk takes bus to northern Thailand after being denied entry into Myanmar

    Read a version of this story in Vietnamese

    Vietnamese monk and internet sensation Thich Minh Tue is traveling to northern Thailand by bus after he was denied entry Tuesday into Myanmar on his 2,700-kilometer (1,600 miles) barefoot pilgrimage to India.

    For more than two months, Minh Tue has been walking across Thailand with a entourage that has grown to about 30 people, including five other monks along with dozens of YouTubers documenting his journey.

    But with Myanmar gripped by a civil war, the group has been uncertain for a few weeks now about how they would get across the country to India, the birthplace of Buddhism — or whether authorities would even let them in.

    With the Buddhist monk’s Thai visa nearing expiration, the group decided to give up walking — part of what had drawn people to Minh Tue in the first place — and chartered a bright pink bus to get them more quickly to Thailand’s western border town of Mae Sot.

    “My visa will soon expire. So now, I need to take a ride to the border gate,” Minh Tue — “Thich” signifies that he’s a monk — told YouTubers who are covering his trek. “If it is open, I will enter Myanmar immediately.”

    RFA had reported that Minh Tue’s Thai visa had been extended on Feb. 24 by 30 days. But later, Phuoc Nghiem, a volunteer who helps the group with visa paperwork, clarified in a YouTube video that the extension was only for 15 days — or until Feb. 9.

    (Amanda Weisbrod/RFA)

    Back on the bus

    Once they reached Mae Sot midday Tuesday, the entourage of 30 filed off the bus and went to the border gate, an RFA reporter on the scene said.

    But there they were told that only Thai and Myanmar citizens could cross. The other side of the border has seen fighting between Myanmar junta soldiers and rebels.

    So the monk and his entourage got back on the bus and headed 560 kilometers (350 miles) north to Mae Sai to try their luck at the border crossing there, YouTubers covering his trip said.

    By Tuesday night, they were close to Mae Sai, they said.

    Internet hero

    Minh Tue, who carries a rice cooker with him for alms, became a internet star last year in Vietnam while walking across the country. People were drawn to his ascetic lifestyle and humble manner.

    Vietnam’s state-sanctioned Buddhist sangha has not officially recognized him as a monk, but he has nonetheless garnered widespread admiration and support.

    At one point, Vietnamese authorities, leery of his popularity, announced he had “voluntarily retired.”

    Late last year, he decided to go on a pilgrimage to India, the birthplace of Buddhism.

    Buddhist monks are turned back at the Mae Sot border gate, background, between Thailand and Myanmar, March 4, 2025.
    Buddhist monks are turned back at the Mae Sot border gate, background, between Thailand and Myanmar, March 4, 2025.
    (RFA)

    He left Vietnam in November, walked across Laos and entered Thailand around New Year’s.

    Since then, he and his group have been walking across Thailand on hot asphalt roads, covering about about 20 kilometers (12 miles) each day.

    If he is unable to enter Myanmar, Minh Tue has raised the possibility of flying to Sri Lanka, and then going to India, tracing the route in reverse along which Buddhism first arrived in Thailand.

    Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Georgian Parliament bars non-broadcast media access, amid other restrictions

    New York, November 27, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Georgia’s Parliament to lift all restrictions on journalists’ entry into the parliament building, introduced on November 25 amid widespread protests against alleged fraud in the country’s October parliamentary elections.

    “At a crucial juncture in Georgia’s history, steps to restrict journalists’ access to Parliament are concerning and threaten to hamper citizens’ right to be informed about vital political processes,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Georgia’s Parliament should withdraw the excessive entry restrictions on the media and ensure that the press is able to work freely.”

    Under the measures announced by Parliament, only accredited broadcast journalists are permitted to enter the Parliament building. Journalists from non-broadcast media are reportedly barred from entry for an indefinite period. The restrictions also limit entrances to two teams from each broadcaster, with selected teams only allowed to report on parliamentary sessions from a designated area and not permitted to broadcast live.

    The purpose of the restrictions is “to ensure a safe and secure working environment” in the building, according to Parliament’s statement.

    Georgia’s Parliament has similarly restricted journalists’ access on several occasions since amendments allowing it to do so were introduced in early 2023, notably during protests over a controversial “foreign agents” law in 2023 and 2024.

    Georgian opposition parties have alleged fraud and are protesting the results of the October 26 parliamentary election, in which the ruling Georgian Dream party was declared winner, and police have beaten and obstructed the work of multiple journalists covering the protests.

    CPJ emailed Georgia’s Parliament for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • China denies entry to Myanmar nationals trapped by battle

    Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.

    Villagers and rare earth miners are trapped on the Myanmar-China border following a battle between allied rebel forces and junta troops, residents told Radio Free Asia on Friday. 

    The Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, is one of dozens of ethnic armed groups fighting the junta for territory and autonomy. Since the 2021 coup, it has seized 220 bases and 11 towns across Kachin and Shan states. 

    Fighting has centered on the region’s lucrative rare earth and gem mining sites, as well as major trade routes leading to Kachin state’s capital, Myitkyina, and further north to China. 

    The KIA seized control of nearly all of Shan state’s Chipwi township in early October but continue to try to take control of the remaining junta camps and border posts in the area. 

    While Chinese officials have previously allowed those displaced by fighting to enter the country and later be repatriated, 1,000 residents and workers trapped by fighting on Thursday were met with closed borders near Chipwi’s Pang War town, said one resident, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons. 

    “The Chinese haven’t opened the gate from yesterday until early today. Along the border, everyone is sleeping in tents and it’s very crowded,” he said, adding that KIA forces had captured Chanyinku village, nine kilometers (five miles) from Pang War. “Now, they’ve nearly arrived in Pang War. The junta is also shooting with heavy weapons.”

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    Residents began fleeing when fighting broke out near a stream in Chanyinku, he said. They can’t escape along the Chipwi-Myitkyina Highway or other vehicle routes due to heavy fighting, leaving them stuck at the Chinese border. 

    Ethnic armed groups and Myanmar’s junta have asked for China’s help, but the neighboring giant has declined to take sides, instead brokering short-lived ceasefires and peace talks. Conflict on the border and throughout the country has encroached on Chinese investment, trade, territory and infrastructure, causing Chinese border officials in Ruili to warn armed groups in northern Myanmar to stop fighting or it would “teach them a lesson.”

    In a video posted on social media on Thursday a woman said Chinese authorities allowed their own nationals to enter the country, but Myanmar nationals were not allowed near the border gate. Another video showed Chinese authorities had blocked the border crossing with barriers tied together with rope to prevent Myanmar citizens from entering. 

    Border 1.jpg
    Myanmar refugees and Chinese rare earth workers try to enter China at the China-Myanmar border gate in Pang War on Oct. 18, 2024. (Kachin New Group)

    The Chinese embassy in Yangon did not respond to emails from RFA requesting more information about the border closure. 

    Some Pang War residents are sheltering in nearby forests and a church, residents said as fighting continued Friday about a kilometer from the town. 

    KIA forces have been trying to capture junta border guard posts in the area, said Information Officer Naw Bu.

    “I’ve heard that from Pang War to Chanyinku village, KIA forces are doing a ground clearance operation,” he said. “But we don’t know some of the battle details.”

    KIA and allied forces turned their attention on Pang War after capturing a border guard post 16 kilometers (10 miles) away on Tuesday, residents said.

    They are also trying to seize a border guard post in Waingmaw township’s Kan Paik Ti town, 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Pang War, they added.

    RFA attempted to contact Kachin state’s junta spokesperson Moe Min Thein for more information on the offensive, but he did not respond.

    Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Mike Firn. 




    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong denies work visa to photojournalist Louise Delmotte 

    Taipei, September 25, 2024—Hong Kong authorities should renew Associated Press photojournalist Louise Delmotte’s visa, and allow foreign correspondents to work freely in the city, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday.

    “Denying Louise Delmotte’s entry is a petty act of retaliation against her journalistic work,” said Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative. “This pattern of denying journalists entry has become a way for government authorities to pressure and harass the media.”

    Associated Press photojournalist Louise Delmotte was denied entry into Hong Kong on September 14, following a refusal by authorities to renew her work visa, and repatriated back to France after her arrival to the city’s airport as a tourist. Delmotte’s work visa expired in the first half of this year, and the immigration department denied her visa extension application without any stated reason, according to media reports.

    In August 2023, the Associated Press published Delmotte’s photographs of Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, walking in and out of solitary confinement at the maximum-security Stanley prison. Lai faces charges of conspiracy to print seditious publications and collusion with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed national security law. The media mogul faces life imprisonment if found guilty. 

    The Hong Kong Immigration Department did not immediately respond to CPJ’s email requesting comment. During a media session on Tuesday, Hong Kong chief executive John Lee was asked about Delmotte’s entry denial and said, “the Immigration Department is doing the same as all other immigration authorities are doing in other jurisdictions; that is, they will look at the entries’ characteristics and examine the entries in accordance with the policies and the laws.” 

    The Associated Press told CPJ in an email that immigration authorities did not provide a reason for Delmotte’s denial. “Louise Delmotte is a talented journalist, and we are proud of the important work she has done in Hong Kong for The Associated Press,” the outlet wrote. “AP continues to have a presence in Hong Kong and is working with Louise on next steps.”

    China was the world’s largest jailer of journalists, with at least 44 journalists behind bars on December 1, 2023, when CPJ conducted its most recent annual prison census.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Georgian authorities deny entry to Belarusian, Armenian journalists

    New York, September 19, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Georgian authorities to allow Belarusian journalist Andrei Mialeshka and Armenian journalist Arsen Kharatyan, who were denied entry into Georgia in recent days, to enter the country and work safely.

    “By refusing Andrei Mialeshka and Arsen Kharatyan entry to Georgia on obscure grounds, the Georgian authorities are sending a worrying signal to all journalists who sought refuge in the country or use it as a base for their work,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Georgian authorities should allow Mialeshka and Kharatyan to enter the country and ensure that Georgia is a safe place for independent journalists.”

    On Monday, border guards at the airport in the western Georgian city of Kutaisi held Mialeshka, a freelance reporter working with independent Belarusian media, for a day after denying him and his 11-year-old daughter entry when they arrived from Poland.

    Authorities gave Mialeshka, who has been living in Georgia for the last three years, a document stating that he was not allowed to enter under “other cases envisaged by Georgian legislation,” confiscated his and his daughter’s passports, and placed them in a room for deportees, the journalist posted on his Facebook page and told Radio Svaboda, the Belarusian service of U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, while being detained.

    After Radio Svaboda published the interview, airport employees took away their phones and a laptop, saying, “You talk too much.” Mialeshka and his daughter were put on a plane back to Poland on Monday evening.

    CPJ is also investigating the denial of entry Tuesday of Kharatyan, the founder of independent Armenian-languageoutlet AliQ Media, based in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. Kharatyan told CPJ that he was traveling to Georgia for work from Luxembourg when immigration authorities denied him entry at Tbilisi international airport and gave him the same written refusal as Mialeshka. After being held for four hours, he was sent on a plane back to Luxembourg.

    Authorities have previously denied entry to several Russian journalists following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

    CPJ sent a request for comment to the Georgian Interior Ministry via an online form but did not immediately receive a reply.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Turkmen journalist Ruslan Myatiev banned from entering Turkey

    New York, September 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Turkey’s July 25 denial of entry to Ruslan Myatiev, director and chief editor of Turkmen.news, a Netherlands-based independent Turkmen news website.

    “Journalist Ruslan Myatiev’s account that Turkey acceded to Turkmenistan’s request to ban him is a startling suggestion of Turkey’s complicity in transnational repression with one of the world’s worst press freedom violators,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Turkish authorities should revoke the travel ban against Myatiev, and Turkmenistan must stop retaliating against exile-based journalists.”

    When Myatiev arrived with his family at Antalya airport in southern Turkey for a holiday, police denied him entrance to the country, citing an entry ban. Myatiev told CPJ that he had not been officially provided with further information, but that he overheard law enforcement officers telling each other the ban was classified under code G-82 — which pertains to “activity against state security” — and had been requested by Turkmenistan. Officers detained Myatiev for four hours and questioned him about his work and travel before escorting him onto a flight back to the Netherlands.

    Turkmen.news is among a small number of exile-based independent media reporting on Turkmenistan, which has one of the most repressive media environments in the world. The news website has repeatedly been targeted by cyberattacks in recent years, and Turkmen.news correspondent Nurgeldi Halykov recently completed a four-year prison sentence in retaliation for his reporting.

    Myatiev told CPJ that cooperation between Turkish and Turkmen law enforcement has significantly increased since protests by Turkmen labor migrants in Turkey in 2020, leading Turkmen journalists working in Turkey to feel insecure.

    CPJ’s emails requesting comment from the Communications Directorate of the Presidency and the Interior Ministry of Turkey, and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan did not receive any replies. 


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong authorities bar entry to German rights activist | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong denies work visa to Bloomberg reporter Haze Fan

    Taipei, August 23, 2024 – The Hong Kong Immigration Department has denied a work visa to Bloomberg News reporter Haze Fan, a Chinese national who was previously detained for at least 13 months by national security officials in Beijing.

    “Hong Kong authorities should not normalize the practice of refusing foreign or mainland Chinese journalists visa applications or renewals,” said Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative. “The government must recognize that the city’s economic vitality heavily depends on the work of these journalists.”

    On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s independent news site Hong Kong Free Press reported that Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait announced in a staff notice Fan’s visa denial and her subsequent transfer to the outlet’s London office.

    Fan was first detained in Beijing by plainclothes security officials in December 2020 on suspicion of participating in activities that endangered national security. She was released on bail in January 2022, according to a statement by Chinese authorities dated May 2022. However, the journalist was unable to be located for more than a month, according to her employer.

    On Tuesday, a Hong Kong Journalists Association reported in its annual survey that the city’s press freedom is currently at its lowest point in 11 years. The survey, which gathered responses from 1,000 public members and 251 journalists, revealed journalists’ significant concerns about the impact of Article 23 national security legislation, which can be used to criminalize journalistic practice under the guise of national security, on Hong Kong’s media.

    A Bloomberg News spokesperson declined to comment on Fan’s visa application in an emailed request for comment sent by CPJ. 

    The Hong Kong immigration department did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. 


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Ecuador ends visa-free entry for Chinese nationals fleeing country

    Authorities in Ecuador have suspended visa-free entry to Chinese nationals starting July 1, citing a jump in arrivals, half of whom either overstay the terms of their entry or leave the country via “irregular routes” to other destinations, making them vulnerable to human traffickers.

    Ecuador’s capital Quito has become a well-known jumping off point for Chinese nationals planning to make the dangerous journey overland to Mexico prior to claiming political asylum in the United States, a grueling journey known as “walking the line.”

    The move, which was announced ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, is a heavy blow for the “run” movement — a buzzword describing the mass exodus of people from China following the lifting of pandemic restrictions in late 2022.

    The meme took off during the grueling lockdowns, mass incarceration in quarantine camps and compulsory testing of Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy, which the government ended abruptly, following nationwide protests, in December 2022.

    Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility said it was suspending visa-free entry to Chinese nationals due to “an unusual increase in irregular migratory flows of Chinese citizens … who would be using Ecuador as a starting point to reach other destinations.”

    ENG_CHN_ECUADOR MIGRANTS_06192024 3.JPG
    Chinese migrants navigate thick brush after being smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico in Fronton, Texas, April 5, 2023. (Reuters)

    “In recent months, there has been a worrying increase in migratory flows from China,” the Ministry said in a June 18 statement posted to its official X account. 

    “50% of these entries have not left through regular routes and within the times established by law,” it said, adding that the ban will “[prevent] them from being victims of human trafficking or migrant smuggling.”

    Chinese border crossings

    Since last year, a total of 66,000 Chinese citizens have entered Ecuador, but only 34,000 have left the country through official routes, according to the ministry.

    The U.S. government has also reported a huge increase in the number of Chinese citizens seeking political asylum last year.

    More than 37,000 Chinese nationals were arrested at the U.S. southern land border in 2023, 10 times the number of the previous year.

    There was a small dip in the first three months of 2024, but numbers rebounded to 3,282 in April, according to U.S. government statistics.

    Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the visa-free arrangement had been in place since August 2016, and had “played an important and positive role in promoting cross-border travel and practical cooperation in various fields between the two countries.”

    While he didn’t directly address the mass exodus of Chinese nationals via Ecuador since the lifting of COVID-19 travel bans in 2022, he said the Chinese government continues to “work with relevant countries to jointly tackle human smuggling activities.”

    ENG_CHN_ECUADOR MIGRANTS_06192024 2.JPG.JPEG
    Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian speaks on June 18, 2024, in Beijing. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC)

    “The Chinese government firmly opposes all forms of human smuggling,” Lin told a news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

    “Chinese law enforcement departments are working with relevant countries to jointly tackle human smuggling activities, repatriate illegal immigrants and maintain a good order in cross-border travel,” he said.

    Trekking through the rainforest

    Performance artist and social media personality Chen Shaotian, also known as Brother Tian, documented his hazardous trek through the Central American rainforest after touching down in Quito in May 2023, via a video sharing platform.

    Chen, who has previously served a 14-month jail term for criticizing the Communist Party on social media, said his trip took him and a party of 200 other Chinese citizens through bus stations, border checkpoints, refugee camps and other facilities that have sprung up to serve the constant stream of people heading for the United States through Central America.

    Along the way, they were fleeced by corrupt police, paid fees to the “snakehead” people smuggling gangs, who charged extra for a more comfortable trek involving tents and horses, and robbed repeatedly along the way, Chen told RFA Mandarin after arriving in the United States.

    Chen said he flew to Turkey, then to Ecuador, before making his way northwards along the coast through Peru and Venezuela.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Lee Heung Yeung for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong denies entry to campaigner en route to Jimmy Lai trial

    An advocacy worker for the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders has been denied entry to Hong Kong, en route to monitor the national security trial of pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai.

    Taipei-based Aleksandra Bielakowska was held for six hours, searched and questioned after arriving at Hong Kong’s International Airport on Wednesday, the group said in a statement.

    She had been planning to meet with journalists in the city in the wake of a stringent new security law passed last month under Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law, and to monitor a hearing in Lai’s ongoing trial, the group said.

    “[They asked] what I’m doing here, if it’s a work-related visit. I said of course, yes, because I’m [an] NGO worker,” Bielakowska said in an interview with RFA Cantonese on Thursday after her return to Taiwan. 

    “They searched my belongings, in depth, in detail — they scanned them twice, checked my shoes, everything, checked how much money I had,” she said, adding that 12 officers and staff were watching her the whole time she was being interviewed and searched.

    “The person who questioned me was an immigration officer, plus there was a customs officer, but I couldn’t tell if there were any police or plainclothes officers inside of the room, because they hadn’t given me any IDs,” Bielakowska said. “But there were some people who didn’t look like immigration officers.”

    ENG_CHN_HK_RSFDeniedEntry_04112024.2.jpg
    Aleksandra Bielakowska, left, and Shataakshi Verma of Reporters Without Borders stand outside a Hong Kong court for Jimmy Lai’s trial in December 2023. (RSF)

    Eventually, she was given a notice of refusal of entry, with a reason she described as “nebulous.” Immigration officers refused to clarify the reason for the decision, even when asked repeatedly, Bielakowska said.

    Hong Kong’s immigration authorities have a stated policy of not commenting on individual cases. A form handed to Bielakowska said only that she would be “imminently/immediately” removed from the city “within a reasonable time,” and that this justified her detention.

    Article 23

    The Safeguarding National Security Law, known as “Article 23,” was billed by the government as a way to protect the city from interference and infiltration by “hostile foreign forces” that Beijing blames for waves of mass popular protests in recent years.

    But its critics — and some of the city’s residents — say it will likely have far-reaching effects on human rights and freedom of expression that go further than the 2020 National Security Law under which Lai is being prosecuted, with a far broader reach and tougher penalties.

    Jimmy Lai stands accused of “collusion with foreign forces” and faces a potential life sentence, yet the case against him relies heavily on opinion articles published in his now-shuttered flagship Apple Daily newspaper.

    ENG_CHN_HK_RSFDeniedEntry_04112024.3.JPG
    Jimmy Lai is escorted by Correctional Services officers to get on a prison van before appearing in a court in Hong Kong, Dec. 12, 2020. (Kin Cheung/AP)

    Bielakowska, who was allowed into Hong Kong in December 2023 to monitor the start of Lai’s trial, said Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, isn’t a political organization and that she wasn’t doing anything “seditious.” 

    “We just fight for the rights of journalists and press freedom around the world,” she said. “It’s our obligation as an NGO to attend the hearings and the trials.”

    Bielakowska’s colleague, Asia-Pacific Bureau Director Cédric Alviani, was allowed to enter Hong Kong, but returned to Taipei the next day “for security reasons,” she said.

    ‘Dire erosion’

    RSF said it was “appalled” by the treatment of Bielakowska, who was “simply trying to do her job.”

    “We have never experienced such blatant efforts by authorities to evade scrutiny of court proceedings in any country, which further highlights the ludicrous nature of the case against Jimmy Lai, and the dire erosion of press freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong,” RSF’s Director of Campaigns Rebecca Vincent said in a statement, calling for an immediate explanation from the Hong Kong authorities.

    Vincent said the remainder of Lai’s national security trial “cannot take place in darkness.”

    “The world must know what is happening in Hong Kong, which has implications for global press freedom,” she said.

    ENG_CHN_HK_RSFDeniedEntry_04112024.4.JPG
    An immigration document issued to Aleksandra Bielakowska of Reporters Without Borders in an undated photo. (RSF)

    The group said it was the first time any of its representatives has been denied entry or questioned at Hong Kong’s airport. Its staff had t

    raveled there without hindrance in June and December 2023, and were able to meet with journalists and diplomats, as well as monitoring court proceedings without any problems, it said.

    RSF said it regularly monitors trials around the world as part of its normal work defending press freedom – from proceedings against journalists in Türkiye, to the ongoing US extradition case against Julian Assange in UK courts.

    Plunging rank

    Hong Kong ranks 140th out of 180 in RSF’s 2023 World Press Freedom Index, having plummeted from 18th place in the past two decades. The rest of China ranks 179th out of 180 countries and territories.

    To Yiu-ming, a former assistant professor at the Department of Journalism at Hong Kong’s Baptist University, said the questioning of Bielakowska would send a strong message to foreign journalists and international organizations that follow developments in Hong Kong.

    “Most importantly, this will have a negative impact on the way that foreign media and the international community view Hong Kong, particularly the impact of the Article 23 legislation on press freedom in Hong Kong,” To told RFA Cantonese in an interview on Thursday.

    He said that rather than laying down clear guidelines about who will be denied entry, they are proceeding on a case-by-case basis.

    “I think [such cases] will be subject to review by national security police,” To said.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Alice Yam for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong denies entry to Japanese journalist Yoshiaki Ogawa

    Taipei, June 30, 2023—In response to Hong Kong immigration authorities denying entry to freelance Japanese journalist Yoshiaki Ogawa on Thursday, June 29, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

    “Hong Kong authorities should explain their reasons for denying journalist Yoshiaki Ogawa’s entry or grant him permission to return to the city at once,” said Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative. “Blocking access to foreign journalists reflects Hong Kong authorities’ shameful attempts to stifle critical reporting.”

    On Thursday, immigration officials at the Hong Kong International Airport took Ogawa into a room and interviewed him for about an hour before asking him to sign a document acknowledging that he would not enter the city. He returned to Tokyo the next day, according to news reports, which said authorities did not disclose the reason for his refusal.

    Ogawa has covered Hong Kong since 2014, including the 2019 democracy protests, and authored the 2020 book “Chronicles of Hong Kong’s Protests.” He was planning to investigate the situation in the city three years after the Beijing-imposed national security law took effect.

    Hong Kong authorities previously denied entry to Michiko Kiseki, a Japanese freelance photographer known for her coverage of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrations, in December 2022.

    CPJ reached out to Ogawa via messaging app, but did not receive any reply. The Hong Kong immigration department did not immediately respond to CPJ’s email requesting comment.

    Separately, pro-democracy broadcaster Citizens’ Radio ceased operations Friday due to what its founder Tsang Kin-shing described as the “dangerous” political situation and the freezing of its bank account. Its office was vandalized in July 2019. Tsang did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.

    CPJ has documented the drastic erosion of press freedom in the former British colony. China was the world’s second-largest jailer of journalists in 2022, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai is among those behind bars; he faces a possible life sentence on national security charges.

    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.