Experts on countries of origin by country

The Expert is a sociologist and religious studies expert with specialisation in Asia and the Middle East. He has authored over 150 subject-specific expert legal reports concerning human rights, asylum and terrorism cases. The Expert has spent several years in the field, carrying out research both in Britain and abroad, enabling him to generate expert reports on the country conditions of asylum applicants. The Expert has been involved in several cross-cultural research projects in the private and public sector. As an expert in South Asia, he spent several years conducting extensive fieldwork across South Asia. In Pakistan, he worked alongside local politicians and social workers, gaining considerable insight into national and local political and legal structures in Pakistan. This makes him a regional expert of South Asia and the Muslim world, especially related to religion, society, culture and politics. He is a peer-reviewed member of the academic community and currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of History, Philosophy and Social Science at Bangor University. He has authored three books: (1) Radicalism Unveiled (Routledge, 2013); (2) Segregated Britain: Everyday Life in Muslim Enclaves (Peter Lang, 2020); (3) Leaving Islamism (Peter Lang, Forthcoming).

Lesley Jo Weaver, PhD, MPH, is an academic expert in medical anthropology, global health, mental health, race, gender, chronic diseases, food insecurity, and homelessness. Her research focuses, broadly, on the social production of health and illness. In the US, Weaver's federally funded research addresses the ongoing crisis of houselessness in the Pacific Northwest by exploring stress and health among people living with insecure housing. In India, Weaver’s federally funded research explores how the day-to-day management of type 2 diabetes shapes North Indian women’s abilities to participate in social roles considered appropriate for women of their age, class, and caste groups. She also studies how South Indian women explain and understand distress, and what they do when they are so stressed that they need to seek help. In Brazil, Weaver’s work has examined how food insecurity influences physical and mental wellbeing. In addition to this fieldwork, Weaver co-hosts and co-produces the academic podcast Speaking of Race, a longstanding program that explores the history and present-day reverberations of scientific racism around the world.

Currently working as an Assistant Professor and Assistant Director, Centre for Public Interest Law at O.P. Jindal Global University in India. The Expert teaches courses on international law, human rights, and citizenship. Their work addresses issues of asylum, refugee status, nationality/citizenship, and statelessness. Their latest engagement has been in the case of R v Budlakoti (Superior Court of Ontario, Canada) where they provided a legal brief on Indian citizenship, immigration, and human rights law.

The Expert is a Visiting Professor at the Université Catholique de Lille where they teach a Master’s course on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and a guest lecturer at the University of Edinburgh where they teach a module on citizenship law in India. The Expert also serves on the Advisory Group of the organisation Nationality for All to form a regional alliance on nationality and statelessness.

Prior to this, they assisted Afghan refugees in New Delhi with the UNHCR asylum applications and worked with human rights organisations.