Experts on countries of origin by country

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

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: 

Dr 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

The Expert is a Sub-Saharan Africa specialist with extensive experience in Country Operations Management, Resource Mobilization, Business Development, Communications and Advocacy across multiple countries with leading international NGOs.

Abubakr Elnoor is an expert in law, conflict analysis, linguistics, and language education, with extensive academic and professional experience in both Sudan and the United States.

He was born in Darfur, Sudan, and holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Khartoum. He passed the Sudanese Bar Exam and became a certified attorney, later serving as a lecturer at the University of Dongola.

Dr. Elnoor has over a decade of experience in language instruction and cultural training. He has served in multiple roles at the Defense Language Institute, including Assistant Professor of Arabic, Academic Specialist, and Acting Site Director. In these roles, he taught Arabic language and culture, with a focus on honor-based disputes, ethnic and sectarian tensions, and the cultural drivers of conflict in the Middle East and Africa. He also led teams of language and cultural experts, developed curriculum on East African societies, and trained U.S. military personnel in cultural awareness and mediation.

He earned his Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Nova Southeastern University, where he also served as a Teaching Assistant and Community Resolution Specialist. He holds several… Read more

Luke Freeman, PhD, is a leading expert on the culture and politics of Madagascar. He has brought this expertise to roles as a tenured professor at the University of London (LSE & UCL), as a special advisor to former president Marc Ravalomanana, and as a social and political risk analyst to the Madagascar extractive sector. He has also filled leading roles in the development and humanitarian sector, notably as a pioneer of the application of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for indigenous peoples in the tropical timber sector. Luke's recent responsibilities include Director of Social Performance at Rio Tinto Madagascar, Director of Social Policy at UNICEF Madagascar and Head of Social Behaviour Change at CRS Madagascar. He has also worked as an advertising strategist for the WPP group and a leadership coach in the university sector.

Lecturer in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh with extensive experience researching and writing about violent social groups and discrimination in selected African countries.  

Will Jones is a British academic who has been working on Central and Southern Africa, with a specialization in asylum, since 2007. He received his doctorate on refugees in Central Africa, particularly Rwanda, from the University of Oxford, where he later became a Departmental Lecturer in the Politics of Asylum at Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre. He has also served as an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Excellence in Global Mobility Law and is currently an Associate Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Dr. Muzong W. Kodi has more than 40 years of research, writing and lecturing on Africa as well as working and residing in several African countries. He has written more than 200 country expert reports for asylum seekers and other migrants from several African countries. He has also provided more than 100 authentication reports for official documents and several reports on nationality and adoption cases. As a consultant, he has been contracted by international organisations, regional African organisations, and multinational companies. He previously held senior management positions in Transparency International, Amnesty, International, and the African Centre for Monetary Studies. I also taught at the University of Nairobi in Kenya and the University of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He holds a PhD in African History from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA, and speaks fluent French, English, Lingala, and Kikongo, as well as intermediary Swahili.

Occupation: International Consultant in governance, anti-corruption, human rights, as well as political and investment risks in Africa.

Countries of expertise: the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo (ROC or Congo-Brazzaville), Angola, Ghana, Tanzania, Nigeria, Rwanda… Read more

Robin Llewellyn is a natural communicator with a gift for amplifying marginalized voices. With over a decade of experience as a journalist and media strategist, he has not only reported on human rights abuses but actively helped shape narratives for indigenous and environmental defenders. His cross-cultural communication, creative storytelling, and policy-savvy writing make him a powerful bridge between communities and decision-makers. Robin doesn’t just tell stories, he helps people be heard. He would be a valuable addition to any team seeking clarity, compassion, and compelling communication.

Journalist and researcher, with more than twenty years experience reporting on human rights, development issues and related humanitarian affairs. Has prepared a number of expert witness reports for the UK, USA and the Netherlands. Extensive base of complementary knowledge in Francophone Africa. 

Shadrack Wanjala Nasong’o, Ph.D. is Professor of International Studies and former department chair at Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee, where he has taught since 2005. He teaches courses in comparative politics, international relations, and African politics. He has previously taught at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, University of Nairobi, and Kenyatta University, both in Kenya. Additionally, Prof. Nasong’o has held prestigious summer fellowships at Riara University, Egerton University, and St. Paul’s University, all in Kenya. A political comparativist, Prof. Nasong’o’s research interest lies in the areas of democratization, identity politics, social conflict, governance, and development. He is author, editor, and co-editor of thirteen books, and dozens of peer reviewed book chapters and articles in refereed journals. His latest publication is a monograph titled Kenya and the Politics of a Postcolony (London: Anthem Press, 2024). For his prolific scholarly work, Prof. Nasong’o has been honored with the Rhodes College’s Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity, and the Ali Mazrui Award for Research and Scholarly Excellence from the University of Texas at Austin.

The expert is a multi-lingual independent research consultant with over fifteen years of experience in conducting research in governance, political risks, and political economy analysis. 

The expert has led research projects, scoping studies and evaluations for a wide range of international agencies and donors including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). 

The expert covers many aspects particularly the politics of identity, political and security risks, social and cultural issues, human rights, political economy, governance, and geopolitics (in particular, concerning Africa’s Great Lakes Region). 

While his research has focused on these countries, he has significant field experience in many countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and the Horn of Africa. Various donors and international development agencies recognise his research and advisory services as a highly effective resource to enhance their capacity in making action-led decisions and policy development. 

His research and consultancy are based on an in-depth understanding of the cultural settings of the above regions. 

The expert is frequently commissioned by the courts to produce country expert witness reports for litigation… Read more

Karen O’Reilly is a country expert who has produced over 300 reports for asylum, criminal, deportation, high profile and country guidance cases in the UK, US, and Canada. Her expertise derives in large part from her extensive experience as a Refugee Resettlement Expert and Protection Officer for UNHCR, beginning in 2006. She is also a writer who has published extensively on refugee-related issues. 

Dr. Nicolas Parent is a Part-time Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, and Junior Research Fellow at the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa, Wilfrid Laurier University. Drawing on the disciplines of anthropology, geography, political science, and law, he examines the cultural, spatial, and politico-legal dimensions of persecution and discrimination. He has conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Peru, Rwanda, and Turkey, producing original research and providing consulting services in the areas of migration policy, refugee rights, and integration.

As a practitioner, Dr. Parent has taken on active roles in several organizations, including the Association for Solidarity with Refugees, the International Refugee Rights Initiative, Watch The Med, and Columbia University’s Teachers for Teachers Initiative. He is also founder of Praxis Initiative and the Observatory for Human Rights and Forced Migrants in Turkey. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Montreal-based The Refugee Centre.

Judi Rever is a Montreal journalist, a COI expert and the author of the book, In Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front . The book re-examines the Rwandan genocide and chronicles nearly three decades of violence committed by Paul Kagame’s army in the Great Lakes of Africa.  In 1997, Judi Rever went to Congo to cover the humanitarian crisis following Rwanda’s overthrow of President Mobutu Sese Seko.

Dr. Maggie Zraly is a medical and psychological anthropologist with extensive training in public health and mental health. Her research and practice have focused on conflict-affected populations, including survivors of conflict-related sexual violence/genocide-rape and GBV, youth heads of household, and children associated with armed forces and armed groups. Dr. Zraly conducted five years of in-depth fieldwork on the ground in Rwanda between 2003 and 2024. In 2016, she conducted short-term research in Afghanistan on human trafficking, and in 2017, she directed a center for mental health in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She has completed short deployments for child protection and mental health support in emergency response, the longest of which was for 3 weeks in 2016 across Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, and Serbia to assess the protection situation of forcibly displaced Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi children seeking asylum.