Transnational Repression
A state's efforts to silence, intimidate, coerce, or physically harm its own citizens, former citizens, or other perceived critics who have left the country and are living abroad, sometimes within fully democratic states. Freedom House tracks documented cases using a strict evidentiary threshold (physical assault, detention, unlawful deportation, or a documented direct threat), meaning its published counts are a verified floor, not a complete accounting — softer forms like surveillance or family intimidation are considerably harder to document to that standard.