Experts on countries of origin by country

David Glovsky is an Assistant Professor of African History at Boston University (BU). He is a historian of 19th and 20th century West Africa, with a focus on Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. His research and teaching interests include histories of mobility and migration, borderlands, spatial history, Islam, citizenship, gender, and histories of popular culture/sport.

Prof. Glovsky has extensive research experience in greater Senegambia, focused on cross-border mobility and belonging among primarily rural communities. His work is embedded in understanding how people in border regions conceive of their spaces, rather than state views from the outside. He holds a B.A. in History and Human Geography from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in African History from Michigan State University. Prior his time at BU, he taught in the Department of Africana Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Daniel M. Goldstein is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University. He is the author or co-author of four ethnographies and numerous articles based on his research in Bolivia and the United States. His areas of interest include the anthropology of politics and law, security, violence, immigration, and urban life. Daniel retired from academia in 2018 to pursue a career as a novelist, but he remains involved in the study of Latin American political and social life.

A bilingual legal professional with over three years of experience providing high-level support to U.S. law firms in the areas of Personal Injury and Immigration Law. Skilled in managing the full lifecycle of cases, from initial client intake through evidence gathering, document preparation, legal research, and settlement coordination. Demonstrates strong expertise in preparing USCIS petitions, handling personal injury claims, and maintaining communication with clients, courts, medical providers, and insurance companies. With a proven ability to manage multiple cases simultaneously in fast-paced environments, this expert is known for exceptional organizational skills, meticulous attention to detail, and a client-centered approach.

Journalist and Broadcaster, with direct experience of 'post-war' Iraq

The Expert/Consultant is a specialist for Nepal and Bhutan – the countries in the Himalayan belt and has provided expert reports to the UK and U.S. courts, including NGOs and businesses around the world. The Expert has appeared in court to provide testimony. The expert was born and raised in Nepal - and provides linguistic expertise in the Nepali language too. He was recently involved in a charity project in Nepal in 2021 and 2022, during this period, he spent a substantial amount of time in Nepal. He regularly travels to Nepal for study and social enterprise projects – and closely collaborates with various agencies in Nepal and Bhutan.

The Expert is currently continuing his doctoral research in politics at Birkbeck College, the University of London. He was previously enrolled on a PhD programme at the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) where he began his research on the dynamics of the relationship of Nepal’s internal political actors with India and China. The Expert is a Member of the Britain Nepal Academic Council (BNAC), Political Studies Association (PSA) and Chatham House. 

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

Costa Rican Expert - Dynamic legal specialist with expertise spanning criminal justice, human trafficking, and international law. Proven track record in designing and executing training programs, collaborating with diverse teams, and providing technical assistance to enhance governmental responses. Skilled in litigation, case management, and legal research across various legal domains.

Expert Witness, former diplomat, Ph.D. Candidate in law specializing and providing expert report on  human rights, asylum and immigration cases of nationality assessment, gender-based violence with a focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Dr. Harding earned a Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Miami with specializations in Latin American Politics, Foreign Policy Analysis, and International Relations. His major professor and dissertation chair was the late Dr. Enrique Baloyra, a renowned Cuba-born scholar. Dr. Harding has held full-time academic appointments in Virginia, Alabama, and most recently Georgia, where he is the Professor of Political Science at Valdosta State University. He is the author of three books and several book chapters as well as over a dozen journal articles. Dr. Harding has been an invited presenter on Latin American politics in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. He has been a federally recognized asylum expert since 2018, working for asylum attorneys throughout the United States as well as the UK and and the Netherlands.

Dr Jawad Hassan Zadeh is an Expert Witness with experience of working in Afghanistan’s and Pakistan’s affairs. As of February 2022, he has prepared 1,128 expert reports for over 200 law firms and non-legal organisations based in France, Greece, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The Expert provides three services concerning cases from Afghanistan (1) country of origin expert opinions on human rights, culture, ethnic groups, religions, laws, government and non-state actors (2) conducts forensic examination of all types of documents originating from Afghanistan (3) interviews the ‘disputed nationality’ claimants from Afghanistan with a view of producing linguistic and nationality of the disputed clients.

The expert provides country expert reports for Pakistan, conducts nationality assessment interviews for Pakistani nationals whose nationality and origin are disputed and verifies the authenticity of Pakistani documents. 

Dr. Hawthorne is  a Professor of African History, a director of Enslaved.org, and an editor of the Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation at Michigan State University. His areas of research specialization are West Africa, the Atlantic, and Brazil. He lived in Guinea-Bissau for two years and return frequently for research. Dr. Hawthorne also travels frequently to The Gambia and Senegal. He has lived in Cape Verde, Portugal and Brazil for research purposes. He is particularly interested in the history of slavery and the Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans. Much of his research has focused on African agricultural practices, religious beliefs, and family structures in the Old and New Worlds. His first book, Planting Rice and Harvesting Slaves: Transformations along the Guinea-Bissau Coast, 1400–1900 (Heinemann: 2003), explores the impact of interactions with the Atlantic on small-scale, decentralized societies. His most recent book, From Africa to Brazil: Culture, Identity, and an Atlantic Slave Trade 1600-1830 (Cambridge: 2010), examines the trade in enslaved people from Upper Guinea to Amazonia Brazil. He has published in a range of scholarly journals such as Journal of African History, Luso-Brazilian Review, Slavery and Abolition, Africa, Journal of Global History,… Read more

The Expert has a diverse background in roles such as project management, program development, and research in international affairs. The expert’s current position as a Project Manager and Researcher reflects her commitment to making a meaningful impact on regional and global development efforts with the specialism in Balkan affairs.

John Heathershaw is Professor of International Relations at the University of Exeter.  His research addresses conflict, security, and development in global politics, especially in Central Asia.  He is author of Post-Conflict Tajikistan (Routledge, 2009), Dictators Without Borders (Yale, 2017), The UK’s Kleptocracy Problem (Chatham House, 2021) and over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles including in International Studies Review, the European Journal of International Relations, the Journal of International Relations and Development, the Review of International Studies, and the Journal of Democracy.  John is currently the principal investigator of a research project which seeks to identify the characteristics of kleptocratic enabling networks via an analysis of the data of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.  In 2021/22, he was a senior fellow of British Academy studying relations between postcommunist elites and British professional service providers. 

Heathershaw  has previously been on the faculty of the American University in Central Asia, the London School of Economics, Kings College London, and the University of Notre Dame.  Prior to entering academia, Heathershaw was a research analyst at the Ministry of Defence… Read more

N'Deane Helajzen is a Serbian-Australian anthropologist and leading expert in human rights, gender equality, and women's empowerment, with a particular focus on conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, international humanitarian law, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), ethnic conflict, and genocide. She is the founder and director of Ethnovision, a storytelling agency based between Belgrade and Sarajevo, dedicated to amplifying the voices of marginalised communities.

With over 25 years of experience, N'Deane has worked in 32 countries—primarily post-conflict regions across the Asia-Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe. Her expertise spans advising governments, multilateral agencies, and international organisations on refugee issues, minority rights, and inter-ethnic relations, offering practical, strategic insights informed by years of hands-on experience.

N'Deane has also contributed expert country reports for asylum and immigration cases, specialising in LGBTQI+ rights, political oppression, social discrimination, human trafficking, and sexual and gender-based violence. Her reports have been instrumental in successful refugee claims from the former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and… Read more

Rebecca Henderson is a medical anthropologist (PhD completed 2022) and MD candidate with expertise working in Haiti from 2017-present. Her focus is on the effects of ongoing political instability, gang violence, kidnappings, and material shortages on the care for individuals with cancer and other chronic conditions. She has conducted fieldwork around the country, including in Port-au-Prince, the southern peninsula, and the central plateau, specifically examining the effects of insecurity, stress, and lack of access that stem from Haiti's violent and chaotic political instability.

Luke Heslop trained in anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, earning a PhD in 2015, and was a Fellow at the London School of Economics prior to joining Brunel University as a Lecturer in Anthropology. He has worked for many years in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. His ethnographic work engages with the lived experience of macro-economic and political change and global challenges in emerging economies.

He is a Director for the Policy Research Institute of South Asia (PRISA), based in London, UK, working on issues concerning inequality, well-being, and access to services for diaspora communities in the UK. He is also co-Director of the Brunel South Asia Studies Research Group, a multidisciplinary research group based in West London, focusing, among other things, on the large South Asian population in the West London region.

Luke Heslop is the lead anthropological consultant for Dar al Handasah, with research work focusing predominantly in the Middle East. Additionally, he is the Producer and Co-Producer of The Migration Menu, a podcast series that explores migration stories from South Asia to the UK through food.

Lecturer at the Institute for Anthropology, University of Leipzig. Conducted in total three years of field research in northern Somalia. Published author and experienced in expert reports on Somalia/Norther Somalia, in particular, northern Somali clans (Isaaq, Darood/Harti, Dir), minorities in (southern) Somalia such as Midgan, Asharaf and Sheikhaal, and issues of health care and mental health.

The Expert is a Country Expert and academic with extensive fieldwork expeirience and providing expert reports (100+) for more than 40 firms in the UK, US, Netherlands, and Canada with areas of expertise such as but not limited to:
- Authentication documents originating from countries of expertise
- Country reports on the indicated countries of expertise
- Minority groups, religious groups
- Political, social and cultural groups: LGBT
- Organized crime and mafia, state crime
- Extremist and violent groups, including religious groups
- Human rights violations
- Women issues: honor killing
- Human trafficking
- Psychiatry and prison conditions
- Disadvantaged groups e.g. children, minorities, mentally ill, disabled, terminally ill
- Availability of medical services
- State structure, military and security services
- Drug dealing and trafficking

Current Position

Director of Research – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) – Panthéon Sorbonne Paris 1, Institut des Science Juridique et Philosophique de la Sorbonne

2017 – current – Senior Research Fellow – Centre for Socio-Legal Studies – School of Law - University of Oxford

2016 – current – full professor with tenure (on Leave) – University of Padua

2016 – 2021 – PI of European Research Council project – Cultural Expertise in Europe (EURO-EXPERT)

Past Position

2018 – 2020, Senior Research Fellow – Centre for Socio-Legal Studies – University of Oxford

2013 – 2016, Professor of Behavioural Sciences (Anthropology) – Department of Behavioural Sciences and Karakoram Centre for Culture and Heritage 

2013 – 2016, Dean of Faculty – Humanities and Social Sciences – Karakoram International University 

Professor of Anthropology - LUMS