Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

Parastou Hassouri

Parastou Hassouri, an Iranian-American, has lived in Cairo since September 2005. She is primarily engaged in the field of refugee law and migration policy, with a focus on the intersection of gender and migration.

Current Analysis

At Any Cost—The War in Sudan and Europe’s Flawed Migration Policies

The current conflict in Sudan reveals the deep flaws in EU border regimes.

Parastou Hassouri • 9 min read

MER Article

Conventional Humanitarian Solutions Fail the Test

Syrians experienced the largest single-day exodus of the war on March 15, 2018. Seven years to the day since the start of the uprising in Syria, some 45,000 civilians fled their homes in besieged Eastern Ghouta. The fact that such large-scale displacement took place over the course of a single day a

Parastou Hassouri • 11 min read

Current Analysis

Refugees or Migrants?

Much of the media attention on global displacement currently focuses on the Syrian refugee crisis and refugees’ attempts to enter Europe through Eastern Mediterranean routes. Certainly, the large scale of displacement that has occurred as a result of the war in Syria (the number of registered refugees has surpassed five

Parastou Hassouri • 10 min read

MER Article

Letter from Ellinikon

On a bright and sunny day in early April, outside a terminal at what was once the Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, I listened as Javad, 16, told the story of the second refugee flight of his life. Javad (not his real name) is a member of the Hazara ethnic

Parastou Hassouri • 5 min read