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Experts on countries of origin by country

Bjawi-Levine, Laure

Bjawi-Levine is a sociocultural anthropologist who holds a PhD from CUNY Graduate Center. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has taught courses on the Middle East and the Arab World at several colleges including George Washington University ad Santa Clara University. She has published articles on various topics surrounding human rights, Palestinian refugee children, and Iraqi refugees. Bjawi-Levine was born in Tunisia and grew up between Tunisia and France, and has lived, studied, worked and traveled extensively overseas. Her anthropological research focused mainly on North Africa and the Middle East where she conducted fieldwork among Palestinian children and families living in refugee camps.

Occupation: Anthropologist
Countries of expertise: France, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, United States of America, West Bank, Western Sahara

Christian, Dr. Patrick James

The Expert is a psychoanalytical anthropologist of violent ethnic & cultural conflict in Eurasia, South Asia, Middle East, Central and South America, West Africa, North Africa and the Horn of Africa with experience working in military, diplomatic, and humanitarian interventions in intra-state violent conflicts.

Occupation: Psychoanalytical Anthropologist
Countries of expertise: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Colombia, Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Western Sahara, Yemen

Faruqi, Daanish

Dr. Daanish Faruqi is a Visiting Researcher at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.  A scholar of migration and mobility in the Middle East and North Africa, he has leveraged his expertise both in academia and in international development. At Georgetown he researches democracy promotion and conflict resolution through transnational religious humanitarianism. Relying on fieldwork with transnational humanitarian NGOS immediately following the 2023 Syrian/Turkish earthquake, his latest writing deals with the viability of religious humanitarianism in effectively managing refugee crises. He has a forthcoming interview with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on this project and its potential for peace building.

He completed his Ph.D. from Duke University, where he wrote his dissertation on the role of Syrian Sufi religious scholars in joining the 2011 uprising against Bashar al-Assad. Through several years of ethnographic and historical fieldwork in Morocco, Turkey, and Jordan, conducting hundreds of Arabic-language interviews, his work revealed the role of 19th century migration from North Africa to Damascus in informing contemporary Syrian… Read more

Occupation:
Countries of expertise: Algeria, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, West Bank

Fatah, Dr Rebwar

The Expert has worked as an expert witness on the Middle East, producing Country Expert Reports (CER) for the past 20 years.

The Expert has produced on average between 200-300 reports each year on the MENA region for British, European, and US courts.

The Expert’s areas of expertise include tribal issues, gender-based violence, security issues, extremist groups and militias, human rights law and violations, the situation for minorities, trafficking, and the availability of medical services. In addition to CERs,

The Expert also authenticates documents from the region, and conducts nationality and ethnicity reports in order to assess the likely origin of an individual within MENA.

The Expert is able to conduct nationality assessments in Arabic, Farsi, Sorani, and Bahdini/Kurmanji.

Occupation: Director – Middle East Consultancy Services
Countries of expertise: Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Hafidh, Dr Hasan

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

Occupation: Lecturer in Comparative Politics of the Middle East (Gulf Specialism), Expert of Islamic Countries
Countries of expertise: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Laizer, Sheri J

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

Occupation: Freelance writer & broadcast journalist since 1985 specializing in the Near East; photographer; political commentator, Middle East country of origin specialist
Countries of expertise: Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Syria, Turkey

Panjwani, Dr Imranali

Dr. Imranali Panjwani is the Head of Diverse Legal Consulting, UK (www.diverselegal.com) and a Lecturer in Law at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford, Essex. He has the unique combination of being a lawyer and academic having lived and worked in the UK, Middle East and Australia. His country expert reports draw upon primary country and theological sources with stringent analysis of evidence, law and language. He resides in the UK.

Occupation: Head of Diverse Legal Consulting, UK & Lecturer in Law at Anglia Ruskin University
Countries of expertise: Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Egypt, Gaza Strip, India, Iran, Iraq, Iraq (Kurdistan Regional Government), Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, West Bank, Yemen

Phelps, Dr. Sandra

The Expert is a Gender & Social Inclusion International Development specialist across multiple global south countries - She holds a Ph.D. in Gender & Postcolonial Studies, University of Sydney, Australia, 2005.

The Expert is an experienced senior consultant and academic with 15+ years in educational program design and management across humanitarian and development sectors, including democracy, education, civil society, and government collaboration in diverse global regions. Her expertise in creating effective development programs with a focus on inclusion and sustainable livelihoods.

Occupation: The Expert is a Gender & Social Inclusion International Development specialist across multiple global south countries - She holds a Ph.D. in Gender & Postcolonial Studies, University of Sydney, Australia, 2005.
Countries of expertise: Afghanistan, Australia, Egypt, Ghana, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia