Experts on countries of origin by country

A strategic and results-oriented humanitarian expert with a proven ability to lead high-impact programmes, strengthen institutions, manage complex donor portfolios, and support governments and civil society in delivering sustainable humanitarian and development outcomes. Combines technical excellence with practical field experience, strong leadership, and a collaborative approach to achieving measurable results across the Middle East.

Dr. Ahmad is a Reader in Global Health Humanities with expertise in country-of-origin information, migration, and asylum-related issues. Her Country Expert work focuses on producing clear, evidence-based analysis to support legal and policy decision-making. She has published widely in high impact academic journals, media articles, and international conferences. She is committed to accuracy, impartiality, and maintaining high professional standards in all consulting engagements.

My expertise encompasses humanitarian affairs, public policy, migration, education, community resilience, religious and ethnic diversity, civil society development, international cooperation, and stakeholder engagement, with extensive knowledge of the social, political, economic, and cultural dynamics shaping emerging and developing regions. Through research, policy analysis, and community-focused initiatives, I have contrubted to advancing sustainable development, social inclusion, intercultural dialogue, institutional capacity building, and regional cooperation, while leading forthcoming research on governance reform, development partnerships, educational transformation, migration trends, and socioeconomic development.

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.

The expert specialises in country conditions affecting families, women, children and socially vulnerable individuals across Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Kuwait, with particular expertise in civil documentation, family and community structures, women-headed households, single and divorced women, child and family circumstances, displacement, internal relocation and the practical challenges associated with return and reintegration.

The expert provides culturally informed analysis of how an individual's gender, family status, documentation, social background and access to family or community support can affect their circumstances on return. Areas of particular expertise include Iraqi and Syrian civil and identity documentation, family registration, marriage and divorce, child registration and custody, single mothers, widows and divorced women, mixed marriages, individuals without effective family networks, diaspora and Westernised returnees, and barriers to accessing accommodation, employment, education, healthcare and other essential services.

The expert's work is particularly relevant to asylum, immigration, human rights and protection cases requiring detailed country evidence concerning the real-world feasibility of return, internal… Read more

An Iraq-based educational psychology researcher and educational counselling specialist with professional experience in child and adolescent welfare, school violence, safeguarding, emotional development and social vulnerability.

She holds a postgraduate qualification in Educational Psychology from the University of Baghdad and has undertaken original research examining emotional illiteracy and relational aggression among Iraqi school students.

Her professional background includes educational counselling, supporting vulnerable students, addressing behavioural and family-related difficulties, and identifying safeguarding concerns within educational environments.

Her research interests also include violence prevention, social cohesion, youth vulnerability and the effects of family and community circumstances on children's educational and emotional wellbeing.

She provides research-based contextual analysis relevant to asylum, immigration and human rights cases involving children, adolescents, families and vulnerable individuals in Iraq.

Dr. Ali is a leading authority on Middle Eastern law and politics, known for combining deep regional knowledge with sharp legal and political analysis. He works at the intersection of courts, policy, and academia, advising on some of the most complex and sensitive issues facing the region. His expertise spans constitutional law, conflict, governance, and international accountability, grounded in long experience with real-world cases and institutions. He is especially valued for his ability to explain complicated Middle Eastern realities clearly, persuasively, and with credibility.

Noureldean Abdulmahdi Noor Alawadi is an Iraq-based researcher with an academic background in International Studies and Law, specialising in Iraqi political affairs, security developments, ethnic and religious minorities, national identity, and the relationship between state institutions and non-state armed actors.

His research interests encompass the circumstances affecting vulnerable communities in Iraq, including Yazidis and other minority populations, the governance and security situation in disputed territories, and the practical availability of state protection.

With experience in legal research, policy analysis, academic writing and the assessment of political developments, he is particularly interested in providing independently researched country-of-origin information for asylum, immigration and human-rights proceedings.

His geographical focus includes federal Iraq, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and disputed areas such as Sinjar, with attention to regional differences in security conditions, political influence, freedom of expression, minority protection and internal relocation.

His work draws upon academic research, legal and institutional materials, and international reporting, with an emphasis on identifying relevant evidence,… Read more

Hussein Ali is an independent Country Expert and Expert Witness specialising in country conditions across the Middle East. He provides independent expert reports and litigation support in asylum, immigration and human rights proceedings before UK courts and tribunals. His work focuses on assessing country conditions, evaluating risk on return, examining the availability of state protection, and analysing the social, political, legal and humanitarian circumstances relevant to individuals seeking international protection.

His expertise covers persecution arising from political opinion, religion, ethnicity, gender, family and tribal dynamics, together with the treatment of vulnerable individuals including women, children, victims of trafficking, survivors of honour-based violence, forced marriage, organised criminal activity and extremist organisations. His reports are individually researched, evidence-based and prepared objectively in accordance with the overriding duty of an independent Expert Witness to assist the Court or Tribunal.

I am a country expert specialising in Iraq and Syria, with a focus on country conditions relevant to immigration, asylum, international protection and human rights matters.

My expertise covers the political, security, social, economic and humanitarian conditions in both countries. I have particular knowledge of issues concerning risk on return, state protection, internal relocation, security conditions, armed groups and non-state actors, civil and identity documentation, displacement, family and community structures, socioeconomic conditions and the practical circumstances facing returnees.

In relation to Iraq, my expertise includes conditions in Baghdad and other regions of the country, political and security developments, the role of state institutions and security actors, militias and other armed groups, documentation, displacement, internal relocation, access to protection and the practical realities facing individuals returning to Iraq after time abroad.

My Syria expertise encompasses political and security conditions, regional variations, state and non-state actors, displacement, humanitarian and socioeconomic conditions, documentation, internal relocation and the circumstances facing individuals returning or potentially returning to Syria.

I… Read more

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).

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.

Dr Haian Dukhan is a Syrian-British political scientist specialising in the contemporary politics of Syria and the wider Middle East. A Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Teesside University and a Fellow of the Centre for Syrian Studies at the University of St Andrews, he completed his PhD in International Relations at St Andrews in 2017.

His research addresses state–society relations, tribal and kinship networks, sectarianism, and ethno-religious and minority communities in Syria, grounded in original Arabic-language fieldwork. He is the author of State and Tribes in Syria (Routledge, 2019) and co-editor of Spoils of War in the Arab East (Bloomsbury, 2024), and provides country-of-origin information on Syria to European refugee councils.

I hold a Masters degree in Human Rights and have sixteen years experience living in the Middle East working for national and international human rights and humanitarian organisations in legal, policy and research roles. I have authored numerous in-depth legal and policy reports covering human rights and humanitarian issues in Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq.

I have experience of submitting legal reports to UN human rights treaty body mechanisms and the UN Human Rights Council as well as the Goldberg Committee (Israel).

I have written for many news outlets and contributed to books analysing the conflict, political, social and cultural developments in Syria.

Dr. Shaul Gabbay completed a BA at Bar Ilan University and an MA at Tel-Aviv University. In 1991 he received a Presidential Fellowship from the U.S. to continue his studies. In 1995 he completed the PhD program at Columbia University in New York and received an invitation from the University of Chicago for a Post Doctoral program. In 1998 Dr. Gabbay returned to Israel to join the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Professor Gabbay joined the University of Denver as the Director of the Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies in 2001- 2010.  He continued his research at DU as a Senior Scholar until 2015 when he was appointed Director of the Global Research Institute.

His areas of expertise include Middle East cultures and societal norms,   Middle East conflicts, and human rights issues existing in Muslim societies.  He is regularly cited and acts as a commentator in national and international media such as the Associated Press, CBS, NBC, FOX and MSNBC.

Academic with expertise on many countries in the Middle East; has extensive experience providing expert reports, including nationality assessment and document authentication reports.

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.

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.