The Middle East Refugee News Agency (MERNA)

To be a refugee is a right. According to international laws, anyone can decide to benefit from this right to improve his/her living condition or the living condition of his/her family. On this basis, governments should provide asylum seekers with assistance.

Middle East has suffered from major conflicts during the last five decades. Many Palestinians, Lebanese, Afghans, Iranians, Iraqis, and Syrians have fled their homelands due to conflicts, and their resulting insecurity, political, social and financial instability, seeking a safe haven.

Collapse of the Soviet Union in early 90’s worsened the issues of refugees by adding Armenians, Azeris, Georgians, and Tajiks to the list of asylum seekers.

There is no precise statistics on the number these refugees. Nevertheless, they form a considerably large group of asylum seekers. This can be realized by looking at the amount of finance and resources spent on this group, as well as their undeniable impact on the politics and economy of the region and the world.    

Another issue parallel to the issue of increasing number of asylum seekers is that the immigration process has become more difficult in the western and developed countries. These tough immigration policies encourages immigrants to consider applying as refugees. This causes several issues for both applicants and governments.

Most of asylum seekers do not know about international laws and laws of destination countries and are not unfamiliarity with international organizations supporting refugees. As a result majority of them are confused and fall victim to human-trafficking gangs, putting their lives and the lives of their families at risk.  

Our vision at the Middle East Refugee News Agency (Panahande News) is to provide asylums seekers with credible information about countries accepting refugees, which in turn, keeps them from risking their lives, values and assets.

Our aim is to inform refugees about their rights, making use of knowledge and expertise lawyers and organizations working on the issues of immigration and refugee rights on an international level. Rather than putting themselves at risk, these information enable them to benefit from their rights as refugees and build their future.

We also provide expert analysis and credible news on Middle Eastern countries, governments, and international organizations involved in relative issues to help refugees find an appropriate country for settlement.

You can contact us with your request for advice or cooperation at info@panahandenews.com .