It’s been a decade since Austin Tice went missing in Syria. He is one of two American journalists who are being held under arrest abroad. Debra Tice, the mother of journalist Austin, has called on President Biden to step up efforts to bring her son home.
“Mr. President, actions speak louder than words. Tell me—tell Austin—that Austin matters to you and to his country. That it’s worth bringing home.”
Powerful words from Ms. Debra Tice. The mother of freelance journalist Austin Tice has called on the American government to return her son to his homeland, 11 years after his disappearance in Syria.
A former captain in the ranks of the US Marines, Tice is one of two journalists being held in custody abroad.
Evan Gershkovich is the other American journalist who has been held prisoner in Russia since the end of March.
The role the US government can and should play in bringing home illegally detained Americans was discussed at the National Press Club in Washington.
Mrs. Tice says that her family has faced many challenges during the terms of three presidents.
“During these 11 years, we have worked with many people who change with the change of administrations. The more time that passes around this issue, the more difficult it becomes.”
A spokesperson for the US State Department told VOA that the US is “actively working to return Mr. Tice to his family.”
However, little information has been released since Mr. Tice was arrested at a Syrian checkpoint.
Now that journalists are being targeted by hostile governments, media advocates say the United States must take stronger preventive measures.
“The United States and other democracies must find ways to punish this behavior. They should impose tougher sanctions to discourage hostage-taking in the first place,” says Clayton Weimers.
Solidarity also plays an important role, says Mr. Paul Beckett from the “Wall Street Journal”, a colleague of journalist Gershkovich, who is being held in a Moscow prison.
“You have seen how the American newspapers “The Washington Post” or “Wall Street Journal” and “New York Times”, at the initiative of the publishers and editors, united and published on the same day, a full page of the newspaper, the call for Evan’s release. I think there is an awareness that this can happen to anyone,” he says.
While the supporters of this cause continue their efforts to free the journalists, Mrs. Debra Tice wishes that one day soon, she will be reunited with her son.
“I imagine meeting him at the airport, how he will take me in his arms! And then we’ll talk about how much I missed him,” she says.
Until that moment, she says the journalist community is a haven of support for her.
