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.

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

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.

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.

Goal-focused, strategic planner, and passionate leader with extensive experience implementing effective, global strategies to stabilize communities through capacity building, promoting human rights and democratization, and amplifying the value of communication. Skilled in collaborating with all members of the organization to build bridges across ideological divides, trusted to tailor language, tone, style, and format to match the audience. Passionate educator with two years’ experience as a High School Principal. Proactively pursues the development and execution of ethical leadership, personnel management, and clear research/discovery goals with comprehensive plans delivering measurable impact to in-house operations. 

An accomplished expert in Lebanese, Levantine, and MENA law, politics, and culture, Dr. Isaac Andakian brings extensive experience and a proven track record in political advisory roles. From 2001 to 2009, Dr. Andakian served as a trusted senior political adviser to two members of the Lebanese Parliament and a minister in the Lebanese cabinet. Over nine years, he counseled the Armenian Orthodox Community Court of Lebanon and the Municipality of the City of Anjar, Lebanon, from 2003 to 2012.

During Dr. Andakian’s… Read more

Dr Haian Dukhan writes expert reports on Syria for the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). His reports address forced recruitment by Kurdish-led forces and the new Syrian army, honour-based and tribal violence including risk to women, former-regime and opposition profiles, and risk to Alawites, Christians, Druze and Kurds after December 2024. They also cover stateless Kurds, state protection, return and internal relocation. He also writes reports on Iraq involving Arab tribes, tribal militias and blood feuds.

He is a Syrian-British political scientist, 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 at St Andrews in 2017. His research draws on original Arabic-language fieldwork, and he writes regular analysis on Syria’s politics and security for Oxford Analytica.

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 a Lecturer in Comparative Politics and International Relations of the Middle East. 

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.

Extensive experience in expert reports on all the countries listed, and also in particular, Kurds in country of origin and diaspora

Hugh Miles is an award-winning journalist, consultant, and founder with over 20 years of localised experience in Cairo researching Arab society, politics, and security. Named Times / Sky News Young Journalist of the Year, his reporting has been featured by the BBC, The New York Times, and The Guardian. 

Leveraging his deep regional expertise, Mr. Miles advises governments and multilateral institutions. He provides ongoing briefing sessions to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) on organised crime and media environments and contributes to the US State Department and EU-funded Global Organised Crime Index.

As an entrepreneur, he is the founder of Al Shafie Miles, an expert consultancy that has advised blue-chip companies and the UNHCR across North Africa, and Arab Digest, an elite geopolitical intelligence network whose membership spans the UN, the UK Prime Minister's Office, Barclays, and Ivy League universities. He is fluent in Arabic and French.

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.

Lebanese lawyer, admitted to the Beirut Bar Association in 2016, with more than ten years of litigation before every level of the Lebanese courts. Her country evidence work rests on that practice: the confessional personal status system and what it means for women and children, civil registry and identity records, and the point at which state protection stops working.

Hatem Nasr is an Egyptian Court of Cassation Advocate, an SRA Registered Foreign Lawyer in England and Wales (Registration No. 7054130), and an Independent Country Conditions and Document Authenticity Expert. He is the Founder and CEO of X Solutions UK, established in 2017, with over 14 years of professional experience in Egyptian law, judicial procedures, human rights and international legal matters.

He specialises in Egyptian criminal and civil law, political persecution, national security-related proceedings, asylum and international protection, risk on return, state protection, internal relocation, nationality and citizenship disputes, religious persecution, gender-based violence, and the examination and verification of official judicial and administrative documents.

He prepares independent country conditions reports, document authenticity reports and expert opinions for solicitors, law firms, courts and tribunals in the United Kingdom and internationally. His professional casework during 2025–2026 has involved approximately 300 matters, including legal analysis, country conditions research, document examination and international protection-related work.

He is also listed as a country expert with the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS),… Read more

Criminologist and gender expert with over 15 years’ experience advising the United Nations, governments and international organisations on gender, women’s rights, civilian protection, reintegration, policing and security institutions, including in conflict and post-conflict settings. She is Founder and Director of Daleel Advisory, a London-based research and expert-witness practice providing country-of-origin evidence for asylum, immigration and family law proceedings.

Specialist in gender-based violence and victim-centred approaches in policing and justice contexts, with a focus on how social norms and institutional responses shape risks and access to protection. She has direct experience working with police, ministries and humanitarian actors in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine and comparable political and institutional environments. Fluent in Arabic and Ukrainian.

LLM, Human Rights, University of East London.UK 2008   

LLB (Hons) Law, Egypt 1983-1988

BA (Bachelor of Arts) in Law, Egypt                                                International Bar Association Membership UK,1010176-2019     

Bar Association Egypt ‘’regulator lawyer’’ 131729- 1993- 2026

Human Rights (Joint Committee) UK Membership / 2007

An International Expert on Asylum & Human Rights UK 2008-2026