THE Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is concerned over the recent reporting on the recent Relau detention centre breakout incident involving 528 Rohingya detainees at the centre.
The freedom of expression watchdog has called upon all media outlets and authorities to be ethical and responsible when reporting about migrants, asylum seekers and refugees while ensuring that they do not perpetuate harmful bias, stereotypes and xenophobic rhetoric against an already marginalised and at-risk community.
“Good journalism serves the public interest and it is in the interests of a safe and healthy society that the vulnerable and marginalised among us are protected and not victimised,” opined CIJ’s executive director Wathshlah Naidu.
“While it is pertinent for news outlets to report on the authorities’ comments regarding this incident, it is equally, if not, more important that they also interrogate the root causes behind the breakout, and not to sensationalise the issue by framing it as a crime.”
The media, according to Wathshlah, has a responsibility to report on such cases with a humane lens, especially when it involves death and suffering.
It is, therefore, inappropriate that headlines for many local news publications on April 21 seemed to place greater emphasis on the manhunt and supposed “risks” rather than addressing the causes of the breakout or the unfortunate loss of human life.
“Publishing authorities’ comments that label Rohingya detainees as ‘highly dangerous’, that ‘they would do anything to save themselves’ or that ‘they may also act out of control to survive’ presents the detainees as ‘violent and irrational’,” Wathshlah pointed out.
“Without the critical accompanying background and context regarding the Rohingya community and the reasons for the breakout, this could stir up xenophobic sentiments in readers and incite discrimination and potentially violence against the community.”
On this note, CIJ also urged the authorities to address the issue without resorting to racial or xenophobic instigations. As for local media, CIJ urged them to:
- Act ethically and responsibly when reporting or speaking about disadvantaged groups and communities at risk, and employ an accurate, accountable and humane methodology by inspecting the language and terminology used as well as the weight they carry;
- Contest, challenge and counter false or discriminatory narratives, and be explicit in condemning bias, prejudicial and hate speech against communities at risk;
- Promote reporting that in enshrined in the highest attainable standards of human rights with regard to the treatment of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
“We require all media publications to play their fundamental role as the fourth pillar and employ a critically ethical lens for us to raise our journalistic practices to a higher level,” added Wathshlah. – April 22, 2022
