In late 2025, Open Briefing concluded a 12-month collaboration with the Exile Hub to strengthen access to grassroots-led mental health and wellbeing support for human rights defenders and journalists in exile from Myanmar, living in Thailand and along the border.
In this piece for Alliance magazine, our CEO explores the growing trend of international relocation as a response to serious threats against human rights defenders and other activists, and why it's not always the answer we assume it is. This article builds on findings from our earlier report, Rethinking International Relocation, which introduces the protection continuum and argues that when relocation becomes unavoidable, it's only the beginning of the journey.
Exile Hub and Open Briefing have launched a mentoring programme for counsellors and mental health professionals in Myanmar and Thailand. The programme responds to critical gaps in both the community-based mental health system available to activists in exile and their families, and in the training for psychologists and counsellors in both countries. Open Briefing and Exile Hub will also help establish new peer support networks for human rights defenders and journalists living in exile in Thailand.
Open Briefing is delighted to feature this guest post from our partner the Exile Hub, a nonprofit established in the aftermath of the 2021 coup in Myanmar. Human rights defenders and journalists face numerous threats. Organisations like Open Briefing and the Exile Hub offer vital support and resources to those fighting for justice and freedom.
There is an urgent need for concise and effective security resources to support targeted pro-democracy activists and journalists in Myanmar. In response, Open Briefing has published its Holistic Security Protocol for Human Rights Defenders in Burmese. Now available in 22 languages, the Defender’s Protocol helps civic actors at risk advance their physical safety, digital security, and wellbeing and resilience.
Political and security risk updates from around the world. This week: Liberia holds general election to elect president and members of house of representatives; deputy leader of main opposition party flees Cambodia over fears of arrest; security forces target members of the LGBT community in crackdown in Egypt; and more.
Political and security risk updates from around the world. This week: unpredictability of Hurricane Irma complicates US response to storm; Rohingya insurgents announce month-long ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to reach north-western Myanmar; Saudi Arabia suspends dialogue with Qatar on GCC crisis; and more.
Political and security risk updates from around the world. This week: South Sudan accepts deployment of UN-mandated regional force to Juba; UN official accuses Myanmar government of ethnic cleansing of Rohingya community; Russia steps up military presence on disputed Kuril Islands; and more.
