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Experts on countries of origin by country

Adinew, Andinet

Higher Legal Expert specialising in human rights, political persecution, and refugee protection East Africa, with experience preparing expert reports, conducting nationality assessments, and providing testimony before UK and US courts and tribunals.

Occupation: Higher Legal Expert, Law Lecturer, Country Expert on East Africa and the Horn of Africa
Countries of expertise: Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda

Ahmed, Omer

Omer is a Somali speaking solicitor (presently non-practicing), with expertise on all aspects of irregular migration from Africa and Yemen. He is based in the region with offices in the UK, and with extensive experience of delivering clear concise and cogent subject matter expertise to UK courts.

Occupation: Lawyer
Countries of expertise: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen

Gabbay, Shaul

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.

Occupation: Muslim World Expert
Countries of expertise: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Yemen

Mohamed, Usman B.

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.

Occupation: I divide my professional time between Africa and the Middle East, maintaining sustained engagement across both regions rather than working through short or isolated assignments. Moving regularly between countries allows me to stay closely connected to regional
realities, cross-border dynamics, and the everyday conditions that shape sensitive individual and institutional cases. This ongoing presence has given me practical familiarity with differing legal systems, administrative processes, and cultural norms, as well as an understanding of how these systems interact across borders.
Working across Africa and the Middle East in parallel has shaped my expertise into an integrated, comparative perspective. Time spent across the Horn of Africa, East and North Africa, and Southern… Read more
Countries of expertise: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Smith, Lahra

Lahra Smith is an Associate Professor in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of Government at Georgetown University and the Director of the African Studies Program. She is a Political Scientist with a particular interest in citizenship, migration and political development in Africa. She is the author of Making Citizens in Africa: Ethnicity, Gender and National Identity in Ethiopia (Cambridge University Press, 2013), and her other publications have focused on the role of political institutions in addressing conflict based largely on ethnic and language identities.

Occupation: Associate Professor, African Studies, Georgetown University
Countries of expertise: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Zagud, Dr. Abduslam

Dr Zagud holds an intensive research experience on international public law, international human rights law, international relations and immigration law. 

Dr Zagud takes instructions on all Arab cases from: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

He maintains his expertise in all legal matters related to Arab nationals including cases pertaining to asylum, immigration, family and crime. Dr Zagud writes expert reports on all legal matters as well as nationality matters, languages, blood feuds, honour killing, domestic violence, risk of return and Islamic law.

His expertise centres around the people with whom he shares cultural understanding, languages, religious beliefs, and numerous national characteristics.

 

Cases undertaken

The Expert has experience in providing Country of Origin reports and analyses, he also provides documents authentication reports on various legal proceedings for clients in the UK and internationally. he is mostly instructed in following cases:

Arab legal and judicial systems. Socio-culture norms. Tribal dynamic. Blood Feuds Internal… Read more
Occupation: Expert with legal and interpreting/translation expertise attained in the United Kingdom
Countries of expertise: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen