An award-winning Cameroonian journalist, who was scheduled to speak about press freedom at an Australian conference - before her visa was denied over fears she would overstay her visit - has slammed the Australian government for their failure to set an example on protecting journalists.
Mimi Mefo, an investigative reporter with German media outlet Deutsche Welle, told SBS News that she "expected more" from the Australian government and said the decision to ban her gave authoritative governments in Africa support to continue suppressing media.
"It's not the first time I'm being denied a visa ... but denying a visa for a journalist who is coming to talk about press freedom, that is where the problem is," she said from Germany.
"It gives me the impression that Australia is giving Africans leaders, Cameroonian leaders, or those that are trying to silence journalists, the path to continue doing what they have been doing."
Mimi Mefo worked as a print and broadcast journalist in Cameroon before moving permanently to Germany. Source: Supplied
Ms Mefo was booked to deliver the keynote address at the Integrity 20 conference in Brisbane on Friday, in which she said she was going to speak to emerging and established journalists about the challenges of working as a reporter in Africa.
Last year, Ms Mefo was arrested and briefly jailed in Cameroon for reporting allegations that actions of the country's military had led to the death of an American pastor.
As a result of her work in Cameroon before moving to Germany, she has also been the subject of cyber attacks and harassment.
"We keep working in fear of being arrested or being threatened by the government," the journalist, who has been vocal in demanding the release of imprisoned journalists in Cameroon, said.
"It should not stop us working objectively and fighting for the voiceless and fighting injustice in our respective societies ... we need a stronger network to come together as one community in the media landscape, it shouldn't be an African issue."
The rejection, first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday evening, comes days after Australia's major media organisations launched the Your Right to Know campaign, calling for greater whistleblower protections and a review of laws seen to be limiting press freedom.
"I wouldn't want to believe that Australia would stop a journalist from coming there to talk to the young students and other journalists and interact with other journalists about press freedom," she said, adding that she believed the decision came down to "stereotype ideas about Africans".
"I'm sure that if I had a European passport they would have treated my flight differently."
A video recording of Ms Mefo's talk was played at the conference in her absence.
'It's not a land of milk and honey'
In response to Ms Mefo's visa application, Department of Home Affairs officials said they were "not satisfied that the applicant's employment and financial situation provide an incentive to return following his (sic) stay in Australia or to abide by the conditions to which the visa would be subject."
But the journalist said it was ridiculous to assume she wanted to stay in the country.
"It's not a land of milk and honey," Ms Mefo, who has a permanent address in Germany, said.
"Before settling in Germany, I had gone to the US, I had been to London, I've been to Norway, I've been to France ... If I had to seek asylum, I would have done so in the US or the UK where I was really treated properly - not in Australia."
As part of an appeal to her initial visa rejection, Ms Mefo said she provided documents from her employer that supported the fact that she was travelling to Australia as part of her work.
"There is no way they would say that they don't know Deutsche Welle because Deutsche Welle is well known," she said.
"I can't leave my permanent job in Germany and go be in Australia illegally. It's unacceptable."
Ms Mefo said she had not been contacted by the Australian government since her visa rejection was widely covered by the media.
Australia's journalist union, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), sent a letter to Immigration Minister David Coleman on Wednesday urging him to intervene on Ms Mefo's behalf.
"The conference, hosted by Griffith University, is an internationally renowned event bringing together the world’s leading thinkers and activists to discuss global issues," the letter read.
The Index on Censorship, an international not-for-profit that campaigns for freedom of expression, also urged Australia to overturn the decision, calling on officials to "support and champion those being denied the right to speak in their own countries".
"Denying visas to journalists who have faced oppression and censorship in their own countries simply emboldens the oppressor," the statement read.
Ms Mefo was awarded the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award this year for her reporting on violence in Cameroon's western regions and efforts to expose the harassment of journalists in the country.
On Thursday, a Department of Home Affairs spokesperson refused to comment on Ms Mefo's case, but provided the following information on visa decisions:
"The decision-maker must be satisfied that health, character, security and genuine temporary entry and stay requirements are met in order to grant a visa."
