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ARAsylum ResearchImmigration & Asylum Expert Witness

Asylum Research

Immigration & Asylum Expert Witness

Independent Country of Origin Information & Risk of Return expert evidence.

Objective geopolitical expert evidence for immigration and asylum proceedings — prepared with an overriding duty to the decision-maker.

MENA

Middle East & North Africa

31.0°N, 35.0°E

SSA

Sub-Saharan Africa

0.3°N, 32.6°E

SASIA

South Asia

27.7°N, 85.3°E

EEUR

Eastern Europe & Central Asia

50.4°N, 30.5°E

Services

Four report classes for protection claims.

Each instruction addresses objective country conditions only. We do not assess credibility. The claimant’s account remains a matter for the tribunal or court.
Official country guidance

How expert evidence contextualises government COI notes.

Official country guidance and policy notes are evidence — not a determination. Where a state relies on its own country materials, the expert identifies the underlying sources, weighs them against the wider evidence base (UNHCR, EUAA/ecoi.net, peer-reviewed scholarship, and reliable in-country reporting), and sets out where the objective picture diverges.

  • Map the official source base

    Identify every citation relied upon — its date, authorship, and methodology.

  • Triangulate against the wider record

    Place those propositions beside NGO, academic, and conflict-monitor evidence that the note omits or underweights.

  • State divergence with citation

    Where conclusions diverge, explain why — with an audit trail the decision-maker can follow.

Full methodology
Topographic survey map with contour lines and river systems
Contour survey & border terrainCOI
Evidential domains

Subjective fear is for the decision-maker. Objective risk is the expert’s domain.

Subjective fear

What the claimant says happened to them, and why they fear return. Credibility findings belong exclusively to the decision-maker.

Objective risk

What the evidence establishes about conditions facing a person of the relevant profile: state and non-state actors, protection in practice, and whether relocation is both safe and reasonable. A person cannot be expected to conceal a protected characteristic to avoid harm.

Expert evidence should be, and should be seen to be, the independent product of the expert — uninfluenced as to form or content by the exigencies of litigation — with an overriding duty to help the decision-maker on matters within the expert’s expertise.

— Expert duty to the court or tribunal
Regions

Deep regional specialism, not generalist commentary.

MENA

Middle East & North Africa

31.0°N, 35.0°E

Iraq · Iran · Syria · Yemen · Libya · Egypt · Lebanon · Palestine

State and non-state persecution, document issuance practice, and returnee treatment.

SSA

Sub-Saharan Africa

0.3°N, 32.6°E

Somalia · Eritrea · Sudan · South Sudan · DR Congo · Nigeria · Ethiopia

Clan and blood-feud dynamics, trafficking corridors, and sufficiency of protection in practice.

SASIA

South Asia

27.7°N, 85.3°E

Afghanistan · Pakistan · Sri Lanka · Bangladesh · India

Political and religious targeting, gender-based risk, and internal relocation viability.

EEUR

Eastern Europe & Central Asia

50.4°N, 30.5°E

Ukraine · Russia · Belarus · Georgia · Chechnya · Tajikistan

State repression, conflict-related risk, and nationality or document disputes.

Explore regional coverage
Instruct

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Instructions from legal practitioners, legal aid providers, NGOs, and tribunals worldwide. Use generic references only (e.g. Claimant AA (Iraq)).

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