Esther Htusan

Esther Htusan is a journalist from Myanmar. She was a former Foreign Correspondent for the Associated Press based in Yangon, Myanmar. She was the first person from Myanmar to win the Pulitzer Prize, in 2016. She began her journalism career in the 2012 by-election working as a freelance fixer and producer for different international news agencies. She learned and developed her skills from established journalists working for international news agencies. She later joined the Associated Press (AP) as a reporter in September 2013. Esther Htusan was one of a few journalists to cover stories on Rohingya Muslims, a topic most local journalists shunned. In 2014, Esther Htusan embarked on a 30-hour journey to investigate enslaved Burmese fishermen in the remote island village of Benjina in eastern Indonesia. In 2015, Margie Mason, Robin McDowell, Martha Mendoza, and Esther Htusan, a four-women investigative team revealed stories of enslaved fishermen; some were locked in a cage for asking to go home, some buried without family's knowledge, and those living under constant fear of reprisals. The investigation spurred the release of more than 2,000 trapped fishermen, the arrest of alleged human traffickers, and the seizure of fishing boats used for human trafficking. In 2016, along with three of her AP colleagues, Htusan received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their “Seafood from Slaves” series.

Esther Htusan was born in 1987 in Phakant, Kachin State, Myanmar to ethnic Kachin parents Hkangda Dut La, Bawmli Hkawn Shawng. She finished her primary and secondary education in Myitkyina, Kachin State. She studied Mathematics at the University of Myitkyina where she earned her bachelor's degree in Science in 2008. After graduating from the university she moved to the country's biggest city, Yangon in 2009 to study English and political science.