Risk of Return Assessment
An individualised assessment of the objective risk a claimant would face on return, tested against current in-country conditions and the availability of state protection and internal relocation.
ROR
Primary source categories
- Country guidance case law
- UNHCR eligibility guidelines
- Security & conflict monitors (ACLED)
- NGO field reporting
- Academic risk literature
- In-country legal contacts
How the expert gathers and tests the intelligence.
We take the accepted or asserted characteristics of the claimant and map them onto the objectively documented treatment of comparable individuals.
We assess whether a sufficiency of protection exists in practice — not merely in law.
We evaluate whether relocation is both safe and reasonable, addressing reach of non-state actors and conditions in the proposed area.
Risk is expressed against the objective evidence. The credibility of the claimant's account remains a matter for the decision-maker.
Objectively contextualising government country notes.
Official country materials carry weight, but they are not the last word. Our reports engage them directly and transparently.
Country guidance
Where reported country guidance determinations apply, the report engages with them directly and identifies any evidence of a durable change of circumstances.
Official note divergence
Where official materials assert a general sufficiency of protection or viable relocation, we test that assertion against the current evidence and the claimant's specific profile.
Objective risk vs subjective fear
We assess the objective risk the evidence supports; the claimant's subjective account is expressly outside the expert's remit.
No forced concealment
Where relevant, a person cannot be expected to conceal a protected characteristic solely to avoid harm.
It is the duty of experts to help the decision-maker on matters within their expertise. This duty overrides any obligation to the person from whom experts have received instructions or by whom they are paid.
— Expert duty to the court or tribunal