For people living in prolonged displacement across Türkiye, Pakistan, Armenia and other countries where they are seeking protection, years can pass without stable housing, reliable income, adequate healthcare, or a clear pathway to safety.

When an urgent need arises, there is often nowhere else to turn.

This is why the Persian Queer Network (PQN) exists.

My name is Saina Avesta, and I am the founder and community leader of the Persian Queer Network (PQN), a founder-led, volunteer-based and peer-led initiative supporting Persian-speaking LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum seekers across countries of asylum.

I am a trans woman with lived experience of forced displacement. I spent seven years in Türkiye living through many of the same conditions that members of our community continue to face today.

I know what it means to live in uncertainty.

I know what it means to wait for safety while trying to survive each day.

And I know how much difference another person can make when formal systems do not provide the support you need.

PQN grew from that experience and from a simple belief: "No One Should Have to Face Prolonged Displacement Alone."

A Growing Community Network

Today, PQN has grown to a community of more than 100 LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum seekers across Türkiye, Pakistan, Armenia, and other countries where members of our community are seeking protection.

PQN is currently entirely volunteer-led. I lead the initiative and provide much of the direct community support, alongside other community members and supporters who generously contribute their time, knowledge and skills.

Together, we have built a trusted peer network where people can reach out when they need information, guidance, connection or urgent help.

What We Do

Our work goes far beyond emergency financial assistance.

We provide ongoing support through:

People often contact PQN when they are confused, isolated, overwhelmed or facing an immediate crisis.

Sometimes what they need first is information.

Sometimes they need someone to listen and help them understand their options.

And sometimes they need practical financial assistance simply to get through the next few days.

The Reality of Prolonged Displacement

Many members of our community have been living in displacement for years.

Some have spent 5 to 10 or even more years waiting for a durable solution while facing poverty, insecure housing, barriers to healthcare, discrimination, exploitation and uncertainty about their future.

Our community-led report, based on 45 testimonies collected in 2025, documents recurring experiences and urgent priorities among queer refugees in Türkiye.

People have told us about:

One person in our network told us:

"We are not safe, and no one sees us. Every day feels like survival without any support being available for us. We don’t know how long we can keep going, but we have no choice. We just try to make it through one more day.”

These are not distant stories.

They are people we speak with, support and hear from in real time.

Your Donations Have Already Helped

This fundraiser exists because our community has already shown what collective support can make possible.

Through donations from LGBTIQ+ community members, friends, allies and people who believe in this work, PQN has already been able to provide emergency assistance to many community members facing immediate and urgent needs in countries of asylum.

When resources have been available, we have helped community members with essential needs such as:

These contributions have allowed us to respond when someone has reached out because they had nowhere else to go.

But the requests have not stopped.

In fact, as our community network has grown, so has the number of people reaching out for support.

What Your Donation Will Help Us Do

We want to be able to respond to more people when urgent needs arise.

Donations can help us provide:

Food and basic necessities

Emergency accommodation and rent support

Essential medication

Access to doctors and healthcare

Urgent transportation and other essential expenses

Other immediate needs identified through our peer support work

Funds will be allocated carefully according to urgency, vulnerability and available resources.

Because PQN is entirely volunteer-led at this stage, donations are focused on supporting community members rather than paying a team of staff.

From Peer Support to Advocacy

PQN is also developing its role beyond individual support.

The experiences shared with us by community members help identify broader gaps in protection, access to services and pathways to safety.

We use this community knowledge to contribute to advocacy, community-led reports and discussions about refugee protection, resettlement and complementary pathways.

I currently serve as a member of the UNHCR Refugee Advisory Group (2026-2028) to the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP), contributing refugee perspectives to international discussions on resettlement and complementary pathways.

My participation in this advisory group is separate from PQN, which remains an independent, founder-led and community-based refugee initiative.

Our work is grounded in the experiences and priorities of the people we support.

Why We Need Your Help

Our commitment is strong.

Our community is strong.

Our volunteers continue to give their time.

But commitment alone cannot pay for someone's medication.

It cannot put food on someone's table.

It cannot provide emergency accommodation when someone is at risk of homelessness.

And it cannot replace the practical support people need when they have nowhere else to turn.

Resources give us the ability to respond.

A donation that may feel small to one person can make a significant difference to someone experiencing an immediate crisis.

It can help someone eat.

It can help someone stay somewhere safe.

It can help someone access medication or see a doctor.

It can help someone get through another difficult week while they continue waiting for safety.

We Are Asking You to Stand With Us

PQN was built from lived experience.

I spent years living in displacement myself.

Today, as a proud Australian citizen, I live in safety. But every day, I speak with people who are still living the reality I once knew, waiting for the safety and certainty that changed my life.

They are not strangers.

They are our community.

They are our friends, our peers and our siblings.

Somewhere among them is another Saina, waiting for a helping hand, hoping that one day she too will reach safety and be able to offer that same hand to someone else.

Your support could be the reason they get through another difficult day.

We hear their stories. We answer their messages. We sit with them through uncertainty. We help them find information, understand their options and, when resources allow, provide practical support.

We cannot promise to solve years of displacement through one fundraiser.

But we can make sure that when someone reaches out in an urgent moment, there is someone there to answer.

Your donation helps us keep that door open.

If you are able to contribute, please consider supporting the Persian Queer Network.

If you cannot donate, sharing this fundraiser with your networks can also make a meaningful difference. It may reach someone who can contribute, connect us with a potential supporter, or help bring greater attention to the realities faced by queer refugees in prolonged displacement.

Every contribution helps us provide practical support to someone who needs it now.

Thank you for standing with Persian Queer Network and with LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum seekers who continue to wait for safety.

Contact & Further Information

If you would like to learn more about Persian Queer Network, our work, or how your support helps, please feel free to contact me directly.

Persian Queer Network (PQN) is an independent, founder-led, volunteer-based and refugee-led community initiative founded and led by Saina Avesta.