Netherlands: Union negotiates vital travel ban exemption for IFJ press card holders

Foreign journalists travelling to the Netherlands will be exempt from a travel ban and be able to leave quarantine to carry out vital newsgathering provided they are carrying an IFJ International Press Card (IPC).

The protocol, negotiated between the Dutch journalists union, the NVJ and the country’s authorities exempts foreign journalists in possession of the IPC and a letter issued by the union, are exempted from the travel restrictions currently in place.

Journalists are still required to:

- get a visa when needed

- follow travel requirements

- follow corona rules in place, such as self-quarantine for 10 days, except for the time journalists are reporting.

In its online guidance the Netherlands government says: “Journalism benefits from rapid reporting at the location where events are unfolding. It is important to ease the entry restrictions in order to preserve freedom of the press and facilitate reciprocity. This will enable foreign journalists from other countries to report on newsworthy events that take place in the Netherlands.“

The target group is news journalists who have an International Press Card (IPC) issued by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and who are engaged in topical news reporting that requires their immediate, physical presence.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger welcomed the move. He said: “It is vital that journalists are able to work as freely as possible and have the maximum possible freedom of movement. This excellent work by the NVJ ensures that journalists travelling to the Netherlands will not face unwarranted restrictions and thereby guarantees greater media freedom”.

Find more information about exemption to the entry ban on Government.nl.

In case of any questions please contact Thomas Bruning ([email protected]).

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 146 countries

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