Declan Walsh is an Irish author and journalist who is the Chief Africa Correspondent for ''The New York Times.'' Walsh was expelled from Pakistan in May 2013—an experience he wrote about in his 2020 book ''The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Precarious State''—but continued covering the country from London.

Early life and career

Walsh was educated in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, receiving a BComm International from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

and an MA in Journalism from

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its f ...

. Walsh started his career at ''

The Sunday Business Post The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland. Founding to Irish financial crisi ...

'' in 1998. A year later he won an Irish national media award for Social and Campaigning Journalism and moved to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

to work as a freelance journalist. Based in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, Walsh travelled widely across

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

to report for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' of London and ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''. In 2004 he joined ''The Guardian'' as the paper's correspondent for

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and Pakistan and moved to

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

, Pakistan. In January 2012 he moved to ''The New York Times'' as its Pakistan bureau chief. Following his expulsion from Pakistan, Walsh assumed the position of Cairo bureau chief for ''The New York Times'' after which he moved to Nairobi, Kenya, as the paper's Chief Africa Correspondent.

Expulsion from Pakistan

Walsh was expelled from Pakistan in May 2013—an experience he wrote about in his 2020 book ''The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Precarious State''—but continued covering the country from London. On 9 May 2013, Walsh learned by letter that the

Pakistan Ministry of Interior The Ministry of Interior ( ur, , abbreviated as MoI) is a Cabinet-level ministry of the Government of Pakistan, tasked and primarily responsible for implementing the internal policies, state security, administration of internal affairs involvi ...

, citing "undesirable activities", cancelled his visas that had been valid until January 2014 and he had 72 hours to leave the country. On 11 May 2013, while he was in public reporting on Pakistan's general election and voting behaviour in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, state security officials detained him in a hotel and escorted him to the airport the following morning. ''The New York Times'' and other international media organisations protested his expulsion, which was seen as counter to Pakistan's current policy on democracy and

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

. Pakistani news media later reported that Walsh had been placed on Pakistan's official "blacklist" and had been declared "persona non grata". In March 2014 Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...

assured a visiting delegation from the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...

that an "immediate review" of incident would be conducted. The Sharif statement was an encouragement to the editor of the ''New York Times'',

Jill Abramson Jill Ellen Abramson (born March 19, 1954) is an American author, journalist, and academic. She is best known as the former executive editor of ''The New York Times''; Abramson held that position from September 2011 to May 2014. She was the first ...

. Walsh's case was outlined in detail in "A Bullet has been chosen for you: Attacks on journalists in Pakistan", a report by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

on declining media freedom in Pakistan, which was published in April 2014.

Escaping arrest in Egypt

In 2017, Walsh barely escaped being arrested in Egypt. New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger announced this event in a 23 September 2019 presentation at Brown University, which was also published as an OpEd in the paper:

"Two years ago, we got a call from a United States government official warning us of the imminent arrest of a New York Times reporter based in Egypt named Declan Walsh. Though the news was alarming, the call was actually fairly standard. Over the years, we’ve received countless such warnings from American diplomats, military leaders and national security officials.
"But this particular call took a surprising and distressing turn. We learned the official was passing along this warning without the knowledge or permission of the Trump administration. Rather than trying to stop the Egyptian government or assist the reporter, the official believed, the Trump administration intended to sit on the information and let the arrest be carried out. The official feared being punished for even alerting us to the danger.
"Unable to count on our own government to prevent the arrest or help free Declan if he were imprisoned, we turned to his native country, Ireland, for help. Within an hour, Irish diplomats traveled to his house and safely escorted him to the airport before Egyptian forces could detain him.
"We hate to imagine what would have happened had that brave official not risked their career to alert us to the threat."

Books

In 2020, Walsh published ''The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Precarious State''— The book was listed as one of The Telegraph's Books of the Year and received praise in the ''New York Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', and ''The Irish Times''. In 2021, Walsh received the Overseas Press Club of America

Cornelius Ryan Award The Cornelius Ryan Award is given for "best nonfiction book on international affairs" by the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC). To be eligible for this literary award a book must be published "in the US or by a US based company or distribut ...

for best nonfiction book on international affairs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Declan The New York Times people Irish journalists Living people The Independent people The Guardian journalists Irish expatriates in Pakistan Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Irish male writers Place of birth missing (living people)