The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has always been a busy region for the Trust.  In Iraq and the Palestinian territories, local freelancers have for many years been living with the consequences of the conflicts they report, and in Iran, Yemen, Tunisia and Syria, many freelancers have been imprisoned, threatened or forced into exile because of their work.

But the Arab Spring events in 2011, whilst opening up opportunities for journalists in some protesting countries, have also led to an unprecedented demand for our assistance. 

In May this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that there have been more than 300 attacks against journalists working in MENA countries and 11 of the 16 journalists killed in 2011 had been working in this region.  International reporters have been singled out more than at any time since the Bosnian civil war in the early 1990s. 

And because freelancers - whether local or international - work without the back-up and support of media organisations, they are always the most vulnerable.

So we have been busy responding to need, working closely with local contacts and partners, establishing new ones and monitoring the ever-changing situation for freelancers working in these countries and providing support where it's needed. 

Some examples of our work in MENA protesting countries in 2011:

• The Trust has given financial grants to freelancers who have been injured in Libya and to the families of those who have been killed

• We have been busy liaising with the friends and family of local Libyan journalists who are in crisis, and providing practical information, advice and help to the families of freelancers missing in Libya

• We initiated and set up an email group of international and local media organisations to provide practical assitance to journalists in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeiria and Libya, who are in distress.

• We are supporting Syrian journalists foced into exile as a result of their reporting

• We are monitoring cases of freelance journalists in Yemen, Syria and Bahrain

• And establishing new contacts in Egypt, monitoring the progress of independent journalistic initiatives and related safety issues in the country

Read more about our work in this region:

Iran - Ehsan Maleki: In exile
Tunisia Report - February 2011