Journalist Asia Gaboush is Tønsberg’s first ICORN resident!

Journalist and journalistic story writer Asia Gaboush from Sudan is the first ICORN resident in the coastal Norwegian town of Tønsberg.

Having fled her home country to Egypt in 2019, Asia Gaboush arrived in Tønsberg as its first ICORN resident at the end of September 2022. After five months of respite in safety, Gaboush is now ready to be public as journalist and ICORN resident in the Tønsberg community and beyond.

On Monday 6th February, Tønsberg and Færder Library hosted a celebration where Gaboush was welcomed as the Tønsberg's ICORN resident. Amongst those present were the Mayor of Tønsberg Anne Rygh Pedersen, the Director of Tønsberg and Færder Library Birgithe Schumann-Olsen, as well as Asia's daughters and friends.

'Here I feel calm. Finally I am free to write what I want'

Asia Gaboush

Originally from South Kordofan, Asia began her journalistic career by working for several local newspapers, including Al Wifaq, Sudaress, Al Jareeda, and Sudan Morning in the period between 2004 and 2020. Asia’s work has focused on covering conflict areas in Sudan, as well as human rights violations in the region.

Often first-hand accounts of victims of human trafficking, revealing shocking details about the treatment of women and children in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, Gaboush’s articles exposed the traffickers’ links to Sudanese authorities and officials.

During her ICORN residency in Tønsberg, Asia has continued her journalistic work and is planning to write two books on discrimination and violence against women and girls in Sudan and Egypt.

Tønsberg in the Norwegian region of Vestfold and Telemark joined ICORN at the end of November 2021. The hosting institution for ICORN residencies in Tønsberg is the Tønsberg and Færder Library, shared with Færder, another ICORN City of Refuge, the only shared municipal library of its kind in Norway. Asia Gaboush has an office at the library where she can continue her work.

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