Skip to main content

Experts on countries of origin by country

Alsford, Niki

Niki Alsford is Professor of Anthropology and Human Geography, and Director for the Institutes for the Study of the Asia Pacific (ISAP), and the Institute for Area and Migration Studies (AMIS) at the University of Central Lancashire. He is a Research Associate at the Centre of Taiwan Studies at SOAS and an Associate Member of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford. In 2023, he was selected as the Ewha Global Fellow at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. Alsford's research focuses primarily on Taiwan, Korea, and the Pacific Islands. He is the book series editor for the Taiwan Series at BRILL, the Korean series at Routledge, and a new series on Asia Pacific Cultures, Communities, and Landscapes at Palgrave Macmillan.  Alsford is the author of Taiwan Lives: A Socio-Political History, published by the University of Washington Press in 2024. 

Alsford’s research focuses primarily on comparative anthropology within the Asia Pacific region. Chief among these is an engagement with Austronesian migration and the maritime cultures of Pacific islands. His present work is bridging a cognitive divide in environmental discussions between Indigenous knowledge and climate science. Alsford is a registered… Read more

Occupation: Professor of Anthropology and Human Geography
Countries of expertise: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Japan, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, North Korea, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Tuvalu

Bluth, Christoph

Professor of International Studies at the University of Leeds with extensive knowledge of the human rights situation and asylum matters relating to political persecution and trafficking. Particular experience and expertise in relation to Vietnamese refugees (political activists, victims of trafficking and persons persecuted for religious activities, Chinese asylum seekers (adherents of persecuted religious groups, political activists and victims of trafficking), and applicants from Pakistan (applicants facing threats in relation to family honour,  issues relating to the blasphemy laws, sexual orientation, applicants facing threats from terrorists and due to their political activities such as members of the UKPNP). I am acknowledged as a leading expert on the Korean peninsula (North Korea and South Korea).  I also have considerable expertise in matters relating to asylum seekers from Iraq and Iran in relation to family honour, political activism and religious persecution. Among numerous publications, reference can be made to the book Security, Culture and Human Rights in South Asia and the Middle East, Global Research Publications 2019, a guide for country experts on the regions.

Occupation: Professor of International Studies, University of Leeds; Visiting Professor at Yonsei University, Seoul 2005.
Countries of expertise: China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Vietnam

Jianhao, Dr An

Country Witness Expert on East Asia, including China, North Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

► 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

Occupation: Country Witness Expert on East Asia
Human Rights Specialist
Legal Researcher and Academic Consultant
Regional Specialist on Authoritarian Regimes and Minority Repression


Countries of expertise: China, Mongolia, Myanmar, North Korea, Vietnam