New Delhi: In less than four months, a second French journalist has left India after his permit to work as journalist in India was not renewed, despite having worked in the South Asian country for over 13 years.
“On 17th June, I was forced to leave India, a country where I had lived and worked as a journalist for 13 years, as a South Asia correspondent for Radio France Internationale, Radio France, Libération and the Swiss and Belgian public radios,” said Sébastien Farcis in a statement on Wednesday.
There has been no response from the Indian government till now.
He is the second French journalist, following Vanessa Dougnac in February, to be forced to leave India after their legal permission to work in the country was revoked.
Farcis worked as a journalist in India with a permit from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), as he holds an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card as his partner is Indian. Since 2021, OCI holders must apply for a permit to work as journalists in India.
He stated that the MHA had denied his application for renewal of journalist permit on March 7, “preventing me from practicing my profession and depriving me of all my income”.
Farcis added that “no reason has been provided to justify this work ban, despite formal and repeated requests made to the MHA”. “I have tried to appeal also, but to no avail so far,” he noted.
The French journalist pointed out that he had been working in India since 2011, after having obtained all necessary visas and accreditations. “I have respected the regulations imposed in India for foreign journalists and never worked in restricted or protected areas without a permit,” he said.
Farcis also said that the home ministry had granted him permits to report from border areas on several occasions.
“Therefore, this work ban comes as a big shock: it was communicated to me on the eve of the Indian general elections, the largest democratic elections in the world, which I was hence forbidden to cover. This appeared to me as an incomprehensible censorship,” said the statement.
Unable to practice his profession, Farcis said that he had no option but to leave India, which he described as his “second homeland”.
“But with no more work nor income, my family has been pushed out of India without explanation, and uprooted overnight for no apparent reason. I have now applied for a new work permit, and hope it will be accepted. In the meantime, as I am not able to work, I am forced to return to France.” Farcis had last applied for a new permit over a month ago.
The international journalism watchdog Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) urged India to renew Farcis’s journalism permit and to stop using legal technicalities to prevent journalists from carrying out their duties.
“The departure of Sébastien Farcis highlights the increasing challenges faced by foreign journalists in India. The arbitrary refusal to renew his journalism permit, without explanation, undermines press freedom and disrupts journalists’ lives,” said CPJ’s India representative, Kunal Majumder.
Asserting that Farcis’s application should be approved, he added that authorities should ensure that “that all journalists can work without fear of unjust reprisal, upholding India’s democratic values”.
Earlier this year, Vanessa Dougnac, who had been longest serving foreign correspondent in India, left on February 16, after the Indian government had issued a two-week notice for revoking her OCI over alleged concerns about her reporting. The Indian government’s action had been seen as an attack on press freedom.
India has been ranked 159 in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in May. RSF called this position “unworthy of a democracy”.
source : The Wire