Experts on countries of origin by country

Country Witness Expert on India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.

► Get a Sample Report, Expert CV, and Free Consultation.
► Responds to inquiries within 1 hour and deliver reports within 1 week.
► Adheres to the minimum rate that meets Legal Aid requirements.

Expert at the international agency The Human Rights:
We provide expert witness reports for asylum cases worldwide, covering human rights violations, political persecution, and systemic oppression. Our reports are trusted by lawyers, courts, and immigration authorities in the UK, USA, Canada, and the EU.

Winner of the Expert Witness Awards in the category of Best Immigration, Asylum & Refugee Expert Witness 2024

Susan Banki studies the political, institutional, and social contexts that explain the roots of and solutions to human rights violations and social justice abuses. In particular, she is interested in the ways that questions of sovereignty, transnationalism, and citizenship/membership have shaped our responses to conflict and injustice, particularly examining institutions such as the international refugee regime, diasporas, and the humanitarian system. Susan's focus is in the Asia-Pacific region, where she has conducted extensive field research in Thailand, Myanmar/Burma, Cambodia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Japan on refugee/migrant protection, statelessness and border control. Her current projects include: the work of diasporas in responding to acute crises at home; humanitarian responses to complex displacement contexts; and the role of creative arts in transnational activism.

Dr. Gil Daryn brings over two decades of hands-on and academic experience in anthropology, human rights, and refugee policy, with work spanning globally significant regions including South Asia, the Middle East, and the UK. His fluency in English, Hebrew, and Nepali enhances his cultural dexterity, making him uniquely capable of navigating complex humanitarian contexts. With a Ph.D. from Cambridge and a record of collaboration with global organizations like UNHCR and The Carter Center, Dr. Daryn’s insights are both academically grounded and practically impactful. He demonstrates strong leadership in multicultural environments and a track record of delivering high-quality ethnographic and policy research. This rich blend of analytical depth and real-world experience makes him an exceptional candidate ready to contribute meaningfully to your team’s objectives.

Dr. Daryn is a social anthropologist (Ph.D. Cambridge 2002), with expertise on the culture, society, history, and politics of South Asia. His acquaintance with South Asia spans over 36 years, including 18 years of living in Nepal and India. Dr. Daryn’s experience includes prolonged spells of fieldwork and research in Nepal, as well as work in various international organisations there. As a British Academy postdoctoral fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (The University of London, 2003-6) Dr. Daryn  also taught the MA course: “The Anthropology of South Asia”. He became closely acquainted with asylum seekers, including Bangladeshis, Burmese, Tibetans, Sri Lankan and Pakistanis, while working in UNHCR’s Kathmandu office (Nepal) during 2008-9 as an Associate Durable Solutions Officer. In this capacity Dr. Daryn went through UNHCR’s Country of Origin information on south asian countries, read in detail many private refugee files, and became familiar with the RSD process. Furthermore, Dr. Daryn also conducted focus group discussions and interviews with many refugees, and held detailed discussions with them. Since then, he has been focusing on the study of human rights in South Asian countries. From 2005 onwards, Dr. Daryn has served as an Expert Witness in… Read more

The expert is a specialist for Nepal and Bhutan – the countries in the Himalayan belt. Since he embarked on his doctoral research project in 2019, he has been assisting the UK, U.S., and European courts, including NGOs and business organisations, with country expert reports on his area of expertise. Apart from the trajectory of his academic career within the areas of his expertise, he has led community projects in Nepal and the UK – and in doing so; he has spent a substantial length of time in Nepal and with Nepali communities in the UK. Moreover, the expert actively engaged and collaborated with Nepali civil societies while working for INGOs in Nepal. He regularly travels to Nepal for research and social enterprise projects – and closely collaborates with native organisations based in Nepal and Bhutan. The Nepal-raised expert has experience of the immigration litigation process and has appeared in court to provide testimony. Besides providing country expert reports both in the form of high depth and breadth, he also provides Nepali language and cultural expertise.

The expert is currently a PhD candidate – and conducting his doctoral research on Nepali politics at Birkbeck, University of London. Prior to Birkbeck, he was associated with the Queen Mary University of… Read more

Region Covered: South & Central Asia — including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.

Country Witness Expert on South & Central Asia, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.

Get a Sample Report, Expert CV, and Free Consultation.
Responds to inquiries within 1 hour and delivers reports within 1 week.
Adheres to the minimum rate that meets Legal Aid requirements.

Expert at the international agency The Human Rights:
We provide expert witness reports for asylum cases worldwide, covering human rights violations, political persecution, and systemic oppression. Our reports are trusted by lawyers, courts, and immigration authorities in the UK, USA, Canada, and the EU.

Joshua Kurlantzick is Senior Fellow for South Asia and Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he studies South Asian and Southeast Asian politics and economics, with a particular focus on democracy, authoritarianism, human rights, and political transitions. Experienced country of origin expert for all nationals from Southeast Asia and China; specialist from one of the leading think-tanks in the world. Have provided expert witness reports for fifteen years for asylum cases in the UK, Europe, and US for nationals from across South, Southeast, and Northeast Asia – related to political issues, trafficking, slavery, gangs, religion, and many other issues. Also have provided expert witness reports for non-asylum immigration cases for nationals from South, Southeast, and Northeast Asia.

Mayilvaganan, M., PhD is an Independent Analyst and Director of Center for Human Security and International Affairs (CHSIA). His research interests focus on political, strategic and security issues concerning South and Southeast Asia, Indo-Pacific region, Borderlands and the Non-Traditional Security Issues. 

Prior to this, Dr. Mayil was an Associate Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru, India, where he oversaw research projects on the Indo-Pacific, Borderland studies, Non-Traditional Security Challenges (such as Migration, Refugees, Climate Change, & Public Health, etc.), Human Rights & Humanitarian Issues, and World Politics in general. He was also a Visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, India, where he taught South Asia in International Relations, Modern Warfare, and International Politics. Other positions he held included Associate Fellow at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), New Delhi, India, with a focus on Sri Lanka, and Research Associate at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), New Delhi, India, with an emphasis on Kashmir. Additionally, he spent sometime as a researcher in Canada and the U.S.. 

He holds a PhD degree from the School of… Read more

Anonza Priyadarshini is an intellectually rigorous and socially conscious legal scholar, blending strong academic credentials with a commitment to legal reform. Her diverse body of publications reflects a forward-thinking engagement with contemporary legal challenges, including AI, corruption, and reproductive rights. With extensive moot, research, and judicial experience, Anonza is poised to contribute meaningfully to international human rights law, legal tech policy, or criminal justice reform research initiatives.