Feeling partially responsible for the well-being of in-country contacts, many diaspora activists try to maintain their connections but carefully circumnavigate critical topics or reduce their ties. A Syrian journalist said that he was well-connected to friends and family through different online channels but could not talk freely and tried to “avoid any political discussions because it can be dangerous for them.”87 An Iranian journalist explained that he had limited his relations with friends and colleagues in the country for fear that his communications were monitored and could create problems for anyone he spoke with. He pointed out the consequences of this behaviour: “I am giving up on a lot of relations and connections which I need as a journalist to stay in touch with the country. I am not only loosing friends but also access to information sources. Some contacts could provide me with more detailed information or a more precise analysis. I cannot access these sources and the quality of my work suffers.”88 Surveillance of contacts can thus prevent effective collaboration between activists inside and outside a country. An Egyptian human rights defender who was preparing exchanges between civil society representatives in Cairo and visiting members of parliament from an EU-country discovered his communications must have been monitored because all his in-country contacts received threats from security agencies to not proceed with the meetings. The risks entailed for people inside the country force many to reduce or end their collaboration with activists in the diaspora. As a result, exiled journalists explained they were unable to quote sources by name, while others deliberately refrained from working with in-country contributors. Threats against family members are the most effective means to force activists into self-restraint and undermine their ties to the home country. A Syrian activist emphasized that anybody with family in Syria was effectively prevented from using all opportunities of exile activism: “I cannot be a kind of public activist, I cannot speak out in my real name. I cannot do something that puts international pressure on the regime. Even though I am heavily involved, I have no full freedom of movement. I have to define limits.”89 MENTAL PRESSURE AND STRESS The targeting of in-country relatives also highlights how practices of transnational repression put exiled dissidents under enormous mental pressure and raise the emotional costs of activism from afar. An Iranian journalist working for a big media organization heavily targeted by harassment against the families of its staff noted that stress and depression had increased among colleagues, changing the atmosphere in the office. “This is exactly what they want: create tension and conflict in our workplace. They want to disturb outside media, influence our work, the decision to publish some news or not, or the way we present news.” 90 87 Interview S1, September 2018. 88 Interview I12, February 2019. 89 Interview S10, January 2019. 90 Interview I6, December 2018. 26