‘We are RFA’: The journalists behind the stories

[ad_1] Radio Free Asia journalists function below circumstances of maximum private threat and sacrifice, pushed by a way of obligation to ship uncensored information to populations below authoritarian regimes.

As a result of unsure funding, RFA will pause its editorial operations on Oct. 31, 2025.

These video testimonies for the sequence “We're RFA” have been recorded in March 2025, within the days following the termination of RFA’s Congressionally appropriated grant. Since then, greater than 90% of the editorial employees was furloughed or laid off.

Truong Son, RFA Vietnamese Video: Truong Son, RFA Vietnamese (We're RFA) Truong Son, director of RFA Vietnamese, has not been in a position to return house since he started working at RFA. For him, this isn't solely a job but in addition an obligation.

“We bear the accountability to inform the reality and break the censorship and propaganda the Vietnamese authorities impose on the complete society,” he stated, including that some individuals have been imprisoned in Vietnam for writing for RFA.

Dropping RFA would imply the communist regime in Vietnam beneficial properties whole management over info for 100 million individuals, he stated.

Hye Jun Search engine marketing and Jamin Anderson, RFA Korean

Video: Hye Jun Search engine marketing and Jamin Anderson, RFA Korean (We're RFA) For many years, Radio Free Asia has been a crucial supply of uncensored information for North Koreans dwelling below an authoritarian regime with extraordinarily restricted entry to info.

“RFA’s mission is to guard the North Korean individuals’s proper to know and their proper to freedom of speech,” stated RFA Korean reporter Jamin Anderson, who alongside together with her colleague Hye Jun Search engine marketing have interviewed many North Korean escapees.

“We would like our viewers to listen to their tales.”

Mamatjan Juma, RFA Uyghur Video: Mamatjan Juma, RFA Uyghur (We're RFA) RFA Uyghur journalists and their households have confronted ongoing intimidation ways from the Chinese language authorities for years.

“China arrested and sentenced at the least 50 of our colleagues’ kinfolk and family members in an try and cease us from what we're doing,” stated RFA Uyghur’s Mamatjan Juma.

Their job has been reporting on China’s therapy of the Uyghur individuals, which the US authorities has designated as genocide and crimes towards humanity.

Aye Aye Mon, RFA Burmese Video: Aye Aye Mon, RFA Burmese (We're RFA) RFA Burmese journalist Aye Aye Mon was compelled to flee Myanmar after the army coup in 2021. She has risked her life and her freedom to return and report on the civil conflict and its influence on the individuals of Myanmar.

“It’s an honor to supply a voice for individuals who want it most,” she stated.

Eugene Whong, RFA English Video: Eugene Whong, RFA English (We're RFA) RFA podcast host and editor Eugene Whong has been the voice behind many video studies. In 2021, he reported on Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing, the primary peaceable protester killed by the Myanmar junta following the coup in 2021.

“I noticed that at that second these weren't simply phrases that I used to be studying right into a microphone,” he stated. “It’s an precise account of occasions that occurred to actual individuals.”

Kitty Wang, RFA Mandarin Video: Kitty Wang, RFA Mandarin (We're RFA) RFA Mandarin journalist Kitty Wang stated that the Chinese language authorities’s suppression of details about the Tiananmen Sq. bloodbath formed her as a journalist, forging her dedication to defending and upholding freedom of data.

“With out it [information], there may be no freedom of thought. With out it, individuals reside in darkness. Via my work at RFA, I hope to carry them gentle,” Kitty stated.

Win Ei San, RFA Burmese Video: Win Ei San, RFA Burmese (We're RFA) Win Ei San arrived within the U.S. as a refugee and has been working as a graphic designer for RFA Burmese for a yr and a half.

“I've realized so many issues in such a short while,” stated San, who has labored on initiatives associated to the continuing civil conflict in Myanmar and its casualties.

“I've a lot extra I need to do.”

Vuthy Huot, RFA Khmer Video: Vuthy Huot, RFA Khmer (We're RFA) “If we don’t hold preventing, we gained’t survive,” stated RFA journalist Vuthy Huot who survived a genocide by the Khmer Rouge. As a journalist with RFA Khmer, he tells tales that matter to native individuals.

“The data is just not filtered, not managed, by the federal government. The data that helps them make the correct selections.”

RFA Cantonese journalist Video: RFA Cantonese journalist (We're RFA) “I've to cover my id as a result of all Hong Kong individuals are below the specter of the Nationwide Safety Legislation,” stated this RFA Cantonese journalist.

Threatened by China’s transnational repression, he needed to go away his house in pursuit of a protected house to apply impartial journalism.

“If I keep in Hong Kong and bow to the federal government, we've got to sacrifice our ideas as impartial journalists.”

Tashi Wangchuk, RFA Tibetan Video: Tashi Wangchuk, RFA Tibetan (We're RFA) Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan Service has served as a bridge connecting individuals dwelling below Chinese language rule in Tibet with the skin world. Nonetheless, this position comes with vital dangers, stated Tashi Wangchuk, a journalist for RFA Tibetan Service.

“For me personally, I've obtained threats from the Chinese language authorities all through my journalism profession, and these have progressively gotten worse,” he stated, including that such intimidation won't deter him from delivering truthful reporting to his viewers.

Souphatta, RFA Lao Video: Souphatta, RFA Lao (We're RFA) RFA Lao journalist Souphatta has been reporting on human trafficking tales for 3 years. She started after a mom contacted her asking for assist in rescuing her daughter.

Within the years since, mother and father and youthful individuals trapped in rip-off facilities have instructed Souphatta that “with out RFA, they might not have a future.”

Khet Mar, RFA Burmese Video: Khet Mar, RFA Burmese (We're RFA) The continuing civil conflict in Myanmar, which began after the 2021 coup, has killed tens of 1000's of individuals. Throughout that point, RFA journalists have make clear the human value of the conflict and introduced world consideration to the combat for democracy.

“Whereas our voice has been diminished, our combat for human rights, press freedom, and a simply future for Myanmar continues,” stated Khet Mar, an RFA Burmese journalist.

Alim Seytoff, RFA Uyghur Video: Alim Seytoff, RFA Uyghur (We're RFA) For the previous 26 years, Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Service has uncovered China’s atrocities towards the Uyghur individuals within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Area. This contains mass detentions, the institution of focus camps, and the horrific therapy of Uyghur ladies, in keeping with Alim Seytoff, the director of RFA Uyghur Service.

“On account of our groundbreaking studies, the primary Trump administration decided that China is committing genocide and crimes towards humanity towards the Uyghur individuals,” he stated.

Thiri Min Zin, RFA Burmese Video: Thiri Min Zin, RFA Burmese (We're RFA) Thiri Min Zin, an anchor for RFA Burmese, was compelled to go away Myanmar after a 2021 coup put in a ruling junta that has focused journalists. Regardless of the hardships she has encountered, she stays dedicated to her work.

“It's my superpower—to inform the reality and assist my individuals,” she stated. “What I can do to assist my nation is to share true info.”

Ounkeo Souksavanh, RFA Lao Video: Ounkeo Souksavanh, RFA Lao (We're RFA) For RFA Lao journalist Ounkeo Souksavanh, leaving his house nation wasn’t a selection — he was blacklisted by the communist authorities for his radio present. “In Laos, the reality is just not usually shared. Anybody who criticizes the federal government faces arrest.”

Ounkeo joined RFA to report correct information to the individuals in his house nation. “RFA was a lifeline to maintain telling the reality,” he stated.

Kim Ji Eun, RFA Korean Video: Kim Ji Eun, RFA Korean (We're RFA) As a North Korean escapee, RFA Korean journalist Kim Ji Eun has used her reporting to succeed in residents nonetheless contained in the nation, the place Kim Jong Un’s dictatorship tightly controls all entry to info.

“RFA is really a beacon of hope for individuals who are in deep despair,” Kim Ji Eun stated, including that she had talked to individuals who determined to flee North Korea after listening to RFA broadcasts.

RFA Tibetan journalist Video: RFA Tibetan journalist (We're RFA) Radio Free Asia has lengthy been a lifeline for audiences in Tibet, in keeping with an RFA journalist of 20 years whose id is being withheld for security.

“RFA sheds gentle on the darkest nook of Tibet,” he stated, “and serves as a window for Tibetans contained in the area to see the world exterior.”

He stays resolute, though his work has come at a price.

“My relations who stay in Tibet are always surveilled,” he stated. “I'm decided to proceed to inform these tales that counter China’s false narratives.”

Zin Mar Win, RFA Burmese Video: Zin Mar Win - RFA Burmese (We're RFA) RFA Burmese’s Zin Mar Win grew to become a journalist after rising up listening to the radio for information. She fled Myanmar after realizing that the ruling junta was concentrating on journalists, herself included. She has continued to inform her nation’s tales.

“Whereas I've a voice, I'll inform the reality. This story is not only mine. It’s the story of tens of millions of Myanmar individuals who refuse to be silenced,” she stated.

Chih-Te Lee, Asia Reality Verify Lab Video: Chih-te Lee, Asia Reality Verify Lab (We're RFA) Chih-Te Lee is the Director of the Asia Reality Verify Lab at Radio Free Asia, the place he fact-checks false and deceptive narratives, together with feedback from officers in totalitarian states like China.

“We consider that info are probably the most highly effective antidote to extremism, conspiracy concept and rumour,” he stated, including that “fact-based free speech is the muse of democracy.”

Vuthy Tha, RFA Khmer Video: Vuthy Tha - RFA Khmer (We're RFA) Vuthy Tha labored for RFA Khmer’s newsroom in Cambodia earlier than it was closed by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s authoritarian regime in 2017.

Vuthy knew he needed to go away Cambodia as a result of the federal government monitored his actions.

It took him seven years to acquire a piece visa and rejoin RFA.

“On my flight to America with my two kids, all I might take into consideration was how America was a protected place for us,” he stated.

Wai Mar Htun, RFA Burmese Video: Wai Mar Htun, RFA Burmese (We're RFA) In war-torn Myanmar, “entry to info is as necessary as meals,” RFA Burmese journalist Wai Mar Htun stated.

“Entry to credible info permits individuals to make very important selections,” she stated. With information sources and VPNs restricted by the ruling junta, RFA serves a crucial position.

Mekong reporter, RFA Lao Video: Mekong reporter, RFA Lao (We're RFA) For the previous 10 years, this Lao reporter has been overlaying the Mekong River, which is a crucial supply of meals, consuming water, and livelihoods for greater than 60 million individuals.

The river is below vital stress as a result of influence of hydropower dams, that are affecting each the native communities and wildlife, he stated.

“It has meant the whole lot to me to carry these tales of the Mekong to you,” he stated.

RFA Tibetan journalist Video: RFA Tibetan journalist (We're RFA) Persecution. Harassment. Lack of contact with relations.

This RFA Tibetan journalist has risked all of it to report correct, impartial information concerning the atrocities confronted by Tibetans in Tibet. “My relations in Tibet have been persecuted on account of my work. … They're nonetheless – to this present day – being harassed by the Chinese language authorities,” he stated.

How has RFA’s journalism impacted Tibetans? “From the widespread Tibet protests of 2008 to the wave of self-immolations and China’s systemic efforts to erase Tibetan id, RFA has been instrumental in offering a uncommon window into Tibet,” he stated.

July Myo, RFA Burmese

Video: July Myo, RFA Burmese (We're RFA) Dependable information may be onerous to return by for a lot of in Myanmar, the place web entry is commonly restricted and a civil conflict has claimed 1000's of lives. Younger individuals are being forcibly conscripted into the army, making impartial reporting extra essential than ever.

“I'm proud to share their tales, to offer them a voice,” says July Myo, an RFA Burmese reporter from a city hit by airstrikes.

WHYNOT journalist Video: WHYNOT journalist (We're RFA) What would Chinese language-language journalism appear to be in an open and free surroundings?

WHYNOT, a digital information journal affiliated with Radio Free Asia, has a solution.

“Our uncensored studies not solely inform our viewers of occasions which can be taking place now, but in addition doc our time in order that historical past and the reality can't be erased by the Chinese language authorities,” a WHYNOT journalist stated.

Ye Kaung Myint Maung, RFA Burmese Video: Ye Kaung Myint Maung, RFA Burmese (We're RFA) Ye Kaung Myint Maung, a journalist for RFA Burmese, has devoted years to reporting on Myanmar and stays dedicated to uncovering the reality.