Higher Legal Expert specialising in human rights, political persecution, and refugee protection East Africa, with experience preparing expert reports, conducting nationality assessments, and providing testimony before UK and US courts and tribunals.
Expertise on religion and politics in a number of African, Asian and Latin American countries - and in a number of languages. Current research includes China (Tibet), Chile, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe; Libya and Syria
Omer is a Somali speaking solicitor (presently non-practicing), with expertise on all aspects of irregular migration from Africa and Yemen. He is based in the region with offices in the UK, and with extensive experience of delivering clear concise and cogent subject matter expertise to UK courts.
Dr. Allo is a senior legal scholar specializing in human rights, political repression, conflict sensitivity, social movements, political parties, post-conflict reconstruction, peace-building, and transitional justice. A native of the Horn of Africa, Dr. Allo possesses extensive knowledge and experience in the region.
Over the past five years, Dr. Allo has been commissioned by law firms, public bodies, and NGOs to prepare country expert reports on various issues, including political repression, political parties, social movements, protests, nationality laws, healthcare provisions, national service, trafficking, and other cultural and social matters.
Dr. Allo has authored over 100 country expert reports for solicitors and attorneys in the UK, USA, and Europe.
Freelance Horn of Africa advisor/consultant. Produced over 100 country reports (on Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, The Sudan) for various organisations and legal firms.
The Expert reads all relevant papers relating to a client free of charge and produces a short report on the case details. He relates these to the evidence already given and how he considers the subsequent hearing will be influenced by these. He rejects requests, if he feels there is very little chance of the client being offered permission to remain. He accepts payment in instalments.
Dr. Merga Yonas Bula is a doctoral graduate of Leipzig University's Institute for Media and Communications Science. He is the author of the 2023 book, "Transnational Communication and Identity Construction in Diaspora: A Comparative Analysis of Four Diaspora Communities from the Horn of Africa" (Springer VS).
He currently lectures in Political Communication at the DW Akademie, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, and conducts research at the Research Center Development Communication (EC4SC) at Leipzig University.
My primary regional expertise lies in the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and broader Sahel region (specifically Niger, Northern Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, and Mali). I also have thematic expertise on trafficking along Gulf of Aden and Red Sea transit routes, including Yemen.
I specialise in, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) claims, trafficking-related protection claims, child asylum cases, statelessness (including Rohingya claims), and Article 1F exclusion analysis under the 1951 Refugee Convention.
My reports are prepared in accordance with expert witness duties to the Tribunal as set out in the Practice Directive and are designed to assist the court with independent, evidence-based analysis. I have undertaken specialist expert witness training at the Refugee Law Initiative.
I am an international refugee law expert with over a decade of frontline experience in refugee status determination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
I have served with UNHCR across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, including Somalia (2023–2024), Niger (2024), Ethiopia (2019–2020), Tunisia (2024–2025), Egypt (2016–2017), and India (2018–2019), conducting over 2,000 assessments.… Read more
Dr Hazel Margaret Cameron – Expert Witness and Country Specialist Independent expert on barriers to reintegration and risks on return in a range of African countries, with evidence judicially commended and relied upon in the UK, US, EU, and Hong Kong. Dr Cameron is a critical criminologist and internationally recognised expert witness specialising in barriers to reintegration faced by failed asylum seekers and deportees.
Her expertise covers:
Pan-Africa human trafficking and re-trafficking risksGender-based violence (GBV) and domestic abuseFemale genital mutilation (FGM)Pan-Africa LGBTIQ+ persecutionPolitical violence from state and non-state actorsAvailability of healthcare, employment, housing, and socio-economic survival on returnEffective state protection Feasibility of internal relocation Plausibility assessmentsDocument authenticationDr Cameron has been instructed in more than three hundred cases of asylum, deportation, and human rights cases, including claims under Articles 3 and 8 ECHR. Her reports have been relied upon in courts and tribunals in the UK, US, EU, and Hong Kong. Judicial decisions consistently commend her evidence as “cogent, impartial, and highly persuasive,” describing it as “compelling, impartially applied, with a… Read more
Simone Elyse Carter is a public health and humanitarian expert with over 15 years of experience in outbreak analytics, research coordination, and strategic leadership. She currently serves as the Lead for Integrated Outbreak Analytics (IOA) at UNICEF, providing technical guidance and capacity strengthening for emergency response efforts worldwide.
Throughout her career, Simone has played a key role in developing data-driven solutions for complex health crises, leading interdisciplinary teams, and fostering global partnerships. Her work has included chairing the IOA working group under the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and overseeing systematic research dissemination to improve outbreak response strategies.
Previously, Simone managed the Integrated Analytics Cell (CAI) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she contributed to the development of evidence-based response mechanisms during public health emergencies. Her expertise spans epidemiology, humanitarian coordination, and policy development, making her a vital resource in advancing data-informed decision-making in crisis contexts.
Kendra Dupuy is a social science researcher and Assistant Professor of African politics. She has expertise with quantitative & qualitative research on energy, climate change, environment, natural resource management, democracy, human rights, civil society, education, and forced migration. She is a certified project manager, technical writer, and program & project evaluator. She has has deep expertise in the African region and specifically on countries in West Africa, East Africa, southern Africa, and the DR Congo.
Audra Grant works at the intersection of conflict, human rights, and governance in fragile, conflict-affected settings in the Middle East and Africa. As an international development professional and subject matter expert at NORC, her projects addressed diverse issues affecting vulnerable populations, from human rights, illicit trade, extremism, and organized crime to child labor and youth recruitment into violence. Audra has over 20 years of experience as a practitioner, security and policy professional and academic and has worked in nearly every country in the Middle East and North Africa and also in over 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing policy and program advice to the USG, private sector, and international donors. She held senior positions at RAND and was a career analyst at the U.S. Department of State / INR. A former assistant professor at University Al-Akhawayn, Ifrane, Morocco, she is a Senior Lecturer at The George Washington University. Audra is also an advisor for the Women’s Ambassador Foundation, Howard University, and reviewer for the Journal of Peace and Development and Contemporary Review of the Middle East.
Dr Imam brings more than two decades of experience in mixed methods international social science practice, research, and teaching around the world, focusing on East and West Africa, South Asia, USA, and Central Asia. Her interests involve research, development, and instruction on advanced issues of human rights, international conventions on human, civil, and political rights, and against torture; police service, judicial and quasi-judicial institutions, and persecution; grievance redressal arrangements; gender analysis, gender equality, gender-based violence, forced marriages, and sexual abuse; child abuse, child marriages, and violence against children; climate-related issues; and more. She has written books and scholarly articles about public administration, employing quantitative data and qualitative streams of historical changes in socioeconomic, judicial, political, and administrative institutions.
Her work employs innovative research methodologies, focusing on getting to the crux of socio-cultural and institutional situations to deliver efficient solutions that take into account complex dynamics involving human rights, child rights, gender equality, sustainability, and other such standards, in diverse socio-political contexts.
Akin Iwilade is currently Senior Lecturer (Associate professor) in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He holds a doctorate in International Development from the University of Oxford. His research has addressed various areas of politics and society in Africa, including cultural anthropologies of violence, regional security in West Africa, and the exploration of human rights, social services and everyday life in Africa more generally. His work is both empirically and conceptually grounded, with regular fieldwork conducted in countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Liberia. He is widely published and also serves as editor of leading journals in the field of African Studies, including Critical African Studies and Canadian Journal of African Studies.
Lecturer in African studies at Edinburgh University with extensive experience researching, writing and teaching on the history, politics, and cultures of Southern Africa.
I am an international practitioner working across Africa and the Middle East, supporting complex cross-border and regional matters. My work is grounded in practical experience, cultural awareness, and careful judgment in sensitive situations.
Dr. Gospel Obele – Research and Development Economist with 11+ years of senior-level experience in economic strategy, market intelligence, and policy innovation.
Write over 25 articles, reports and publication, advising 50+ high-profile institutions with combined $850m in earnings, across 30+ sectors and 10+ countries.
Delivered 350+ expert media appearances (BBC, Al Jazeera, CGTN, Arise TV, Africa News) as a recognized voice on markets, economy, and social development.
Kefa M. Otiso is a Professor of Geography at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA. His research interests are in urbanization, globalization, international migration, development, environment, governance, and cultural change in the context of Africa and North America. He teaches a variety of courses in urban, economic, population, and cultural geography, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. He was the founding president of the US-based Kenya Scholars and Studies Association (KESSA) and is a former Commissioner on Ohio’s New African Immigrants Commission. He is a past editor of the African Geographical Review and has presented papers at many national and international conferences including those organized by the Kenya Scholars and Studies Association, American Association of Geographers, African Studies Association, and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. He is a frequent media commentator on US, Kenyan, and other international news outlets. He is also the author of Culture and Customs of Tanzania (Greenwood Press, 2013) and Culture and Customs of Uganda (Greenwood Press, 2006), co-author of Population Geography: Problems, Concepts, and Prospects (Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2013), co-editor of African Immigrants and the… Read more
Dr Paszkiewicz is an anthropologist with over 20 years of experience in Refugee Studies, with a geographical focus on the Horn of Africa and Eritrean forced migration in particular.
Christian Reed is a Medical Anthropologist and Epidemiologist who specializes in sub-Saharan and East Africa. He has extensive research experience in Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia and speaks Portuguese, Swahili, Lunda-Ndembu, and Bemba. His single-authored book "Landscapes of Activism" pertains to pharmaceutical treatment access and HIV/AIDS activism with the matrilineal and Muslim tribes of northern Mozambique. He specializes in the social ramifications of infectious and communicable disease and rural and urban global health. Christian also studies religion with interests in traditional religion and healing, Pentecostalism, Catholicism, Santaria, Voodoo, and spirit possession.