Experts on countries of origin by country

Independent country conditions researcher and humanitarian affairs specialist with extensive professional experience in humanitarian programmes, community-based research, displacement, social vulnerability and conflict-affected environments.

Her work focuses on the humanitarian and social circumstances of individuals and communities across Iraq and the wider Middle East, including the impact of conflict, forced displacement, gender-related vulnerabilities, social discrimination and barriers to protection.

Areas of specialist interest include the circumstances of women and children, ethnic and religious minorities, internally displaced persons, returnees, and individuals facing difficulties accessing essential services or establishing sustainable livelihoods.

Drawing on professional experience in humanitarian operations, field research, monitoring, evaluation and community engagement, she provides independent contextual analysis relevant to asylum, immigration and human rights proceedings.

Her approach emphasises evidence-based research, cultural understanding and objective assessment of the social, humanitarian and institutional conditions relevant to individual cases.

Afrah Almatwari is an academic researcher, Middle East analyst, and professional Arabic-English translator specializing in contemporary Iraqi socio-political dynamics, governance structures, and human rights frameworks. Currently reading for an MRes in Politics at Birkbeck, University of London.

Her research evaluates the complex intersections of formal statutory law, informal structures, and localized conflict resolution mechanisms.

She produces objective, tribunal-ready country-of-origin assessments for UK legal proceedings, with expertise evaluating gender-specific security risks, state protection capabilities, and tribal clientelism across federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region (KRI).

The expert is lecturer in Kurdish and Gender Studies at the University of Exeter and has extensive experience in providing country expert reports, nationality assessment, and language analysis.

Independent researcher. Country expert reports, nationality assessment, language analysis, Gender-based violence, Ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East, and Document authentication.

I am a Kurdish-British independent consultant specialising in Middle Eastern politics, particularly the political structures of Iraqi Kurdistan, Kurdish affairs, and regional geopolitics. I provide expert country of origin (COI) reports, political analysis, and cultural briefings for legal professionals and private entities. My work bridges lived experience, academic research, and institutional understanding, ensuring nuanced and evidence-based insight into complex political and social dynamics. I also work as an interpreter and have worked with an intelligence company as a due diligence researcher and interviewer with a focus on the Middle East.

Dr. Sana Yaseen Khudhur is an author and lecturer at the Department of Education/ Arden University.

She completed her BA in English Language and Literature at Salahaddin University/Erbil in 2011 and was awarded a scholarship to pursue MA degree in Practice of Teaching and Learning English Language. In 2014, she was awarded another scholarship to pursue a PhD in Intercultural Linguistics.

Registered as a full member of NRPSI (National Register of Public Service Interpreters)

Registered as a fellow member of CIOL (Chartered Institute of English Language Linguists)

Published a number of academic articles and books in the field of English language learning and teaching, and the experience of ESOL, EFL and ELL by Kurdish learners

Produced a number of articles on language assessment, ethnicity, country background and information, tribal and political issues in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Ali Kozad is a highly experienced Country Expert with over fifteen years' experience in government, diplomacy, public administration and international affairs. Drawing upon extensive first-hand experience advising on political systems, governance, state institutions and public policy, he provides independent expert reports for solicitors, barristers, tribunals and courts.

His expertise includes country conditions, political developments, government structures, public administration, diplomatic practice, civil documentation, nationality matters, state institutions and international relations. He accepts instructions in asylum, immigration, nationality, deportation, judicial review, public law and civil proceedings requiring expert evidence on country conditions and governmental matters.

His reports are impartial, evidence-based and prepared in accordance with the duties of an independent expert witness.

Kawa Morad (MA, PhD) is a lecturer in social anthropology, based in Exeter, with a focus on forced migration and/in the Middle East. He has extensive experience in providing language analysis and country expert reports on internal displacement, gender-based violence, medical/psychiatric care and access, statelessness, LGBTQ+ communities and others in Syria, Iraq, and Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

20 years experience in translation and knowledge in migration and displacement, 4 years ECOSOC representative for NGO at the human right council at UN-GENEVE and 10 years experience with humanitarian agencies and the world bank

Dr Imranali Panjwani has lived, studied and worked in the UK, Middle East, East-Africa and Australia as an academic, lawyer, chaplain and community worker. He has written 200+ country experts reports for asylum seekers under the instructions of UK and international law firms. His reports have been commented upon by judges and lawyers and draw upon his diverse legal, cultural and religious experiences.

For his access to justice work in immigration and asylum he received the national Spirit in the Community award at the GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards in 2025 and Highly Commended Access to Justice award at the UK Diversity Legal Awards in 2021.

The Expert is a North Africa and Middle East specialist and has produced over 400 expert witness reports for the UK courts across a range of countries including Libya, Iraq (including KRI), Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria. The Expert has also served as an expert witness in several terrorism related cases in the UK, US and Ireland; as an expert witness in a Libyan case at the Commercial Division of the UK’s High Court; and as a country guidance expert on Libya in the UK courts (2017). The Expert has also carried out numerous linguistic and nationality assessments and provides translation services (Arabic-English). 

I am an expert on Syria, Iraq, and Iran with eight years of experience as an Army intelligence officer and six years as a senior political and security risk analyst for companies, governments, NGOs, and insurers. I was interviewed by Matthew Wright on LBC about the fate and ambitions of Iranian Kurds exiled in Iraq. My work was cited in reports by the US congress, the government of Spain, the Counter-Terrorism Centre of Excellence (funded by Germany and the UNODC), Voice of America, and others. My reports are recognised for being clear, concise and evidence based. I also produce bespoke maps that illustrate armed group activity and risk zones, making complex dynamics readily accessible.