What Documents Can Journalists Have Ready in the Event of an Emergency?

What can you do as you watch your own country turn into a war zone?

That’s a question none of us want to have to answer but it is one that many people in Ukraine have had to face in the days since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade the country.

Journalists on the ground have had to confront that question too as they find their personal security and safety thrown into jeopardy. Many are in considerable danger as they work to document the atrocities that are being committed.

Speaking to The Daily Beast, Kyiv-based journalist Iryna Matviyishyn described the “total terror” she and other journalists are experiencing on the ground.

“It’s chaotic right now,” she said. “Nobody knows where is the safe place except western Ukraine. It’s a total terror by Russians here. But all Ukrainian men who can fight are joining military defense and armed forces. Ukrainians won’t give up.”

Similarly, Al Jazeera reporter Liz Cookman, reporting from Mariupol, located in Eastern Ukraine, told the news outlet about the challenges she’s faced reporting on the conflict while in separatist territory.

“The fighting grows closer and closer. The explosions get louder and louder,” she said. “[And] it is now moving towards us… It’s very uncertain at the moment. I just this evening went to an underground church to meet people sheltering there,” she said.

With these stories in mind, it’s important to remember the resources that are available for journalists to help prepare them in the event they find themselves in a conflict zone.

There exist programs, such as the ones offered by the Peace Journalism Lab (PJL) on field safety in war zones for journalists, that help to provide journalists with the information and resources they need to cope with the challenges they are likely to face in the event of conflict. And there are also essential steps that journalists can take in the event of an emergency, particularly if they need to flee their homes on short notice.

Crucially, journalists must make sure that they have certain documents on hand to streamline the exit process as much as possible.

The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) advises journalists to keep physical and digital copies of the following documents ready:

• Passport

• National ID card

• Driver’s license

If either of these is close to expiring, it is imperative to renew them as quickly as possible. If you have several identification documents, make sure to keep them in separate places in rhe event you lose one of them.

• Birth certificate (or any document that can prove your date and place of birth)

• Others: marriage certificate, university degrees (diploma, proof of graduation and attendance, grades), press card, professional certificates, vaccine certificate, other medical documents.

GIJN recommends that the following information should be saved in one document, in English, on a Cloud service:

• Your full legal name, place, and date of birth.

• Your passport number, as well as the issue number and the expiration date.

• Your current location (though you should be careful about who you send this information to, particularly in online messages).

• Your email address.

• Your phone number (and Signal and WhatsApp numbers, if different).

• Your place of employment as well as proof of employment with local or foreign organizations.

The organization recommends that journalists consider digital copies of some of these documents to trusted contacts abroad for safekeeping. “Make digital copies of photographs and anything else you consider important and would want to keep a memory of,” it notes. “Save everything to a Cloud service you trust.”

The organization also notes that there are numerous preventative measures journalists can take. It recommends:

• Applying for a tourist visa in a safe foreign country in the event you need to find an easy, temporary way out.

• Contacting international organizations you have worked with in the past for a record or proof of your work in English (e.g.: A signed document from an editor-in-chief or human resources attesting to the work you’ve performed). Additionally, you could ask if they have connections at the national government level or if they can vouch for you if you’ve applied for refugee status and request supporting electronic documents in English as well as a point of contact to help with your case.

• Contacting international professional organizations in which you maintain a membership and asking for a letter of support and proof of membership or involvement, in English.

• Researching pathways for asylum and refugee status in other countries. This is easier to do in countries where you have an immediate family member. You can always contact the embassies of these countries and request information about their procedures as well as refugee aid organizations that can help you navigate the legal system and what becoming a refugee in another country would entail.

As the world watches the ongoing conflict, now in its seventh day, the value of what journalists provide, serving as an emergency broadcast system to bring vital information to the people who need it most, is more apparent than ever. Journalists must take the steps to keep themselves safe while providing an essential public service.