what we do

Access to information

Country of Origin Information (COI) is accessible to all who need it. People seeking asylum and their legal counsel have access to relevant, timely and high-quality information to substantiate their claims.

Use of information

The asylum procedure is always evidence-based. Relevant, timely and high-quality Country of Origin Information is considered in every asylum decision.

Absence of prejudice

The asylum procedure is always unbiased. Processes involving people seeking asylum are conducted in a fair and impartial manner with no room for assumptions or preconceptions.

Societal Awareness

There is broad recognition within host societies of the importance of high-quality COI in the asylum procedure.

Bespoke Research for your Client

Quality COI research can make or break an asylum application. We help lawyers and NGOs in any country of arrival support their clients' case by producing individualised reports on specific human rights situations in refugee countries of origin. From political or religious persecution to access to medical care, if the information is out there, we will find it. You can access our 600+ case-specific research reports or request your own bespoke research report here.

Thematic Research to Address Information Gaps

Each year, we produce one extensive thematic research report for a group of vulnerable persons seeking asylum. We publish new interview excerpts alongside existing information to shed light on the circumstances that these individuals may be facing in their home countries. Lawyers, NGOs and decision-makers can use this research to better understand the context from which persons seeking asylum have fled. Our past thematic reports have covered topics such as the situation of Children and Young people with Disabilities in Nigeria, State Treatment of LGBTIQ+ Persons in Ghana and Returned Victims of Trafficking from Vietnam. You can access all of our thematic research reports on this page.

Spotlight Research

We compile collections of relevant research about fast-changing situations of particular urgency and update these regularly. For example, we have compiled a regularly-updated research Repository about Afghanistan and a Repository about Stateless Individuals and those at risk of Statelessness from the Ukraine.

Country of Origin Information (COI) research training

Each year, we run a series of Country of Origin Information research training webinars, free of charge, for lawyers and NGO representatives. We have developed training handbooks and webinars about COI in the UK, child-specific COI research and on disability-specific COI research. Our training webinars usually take place in the first quarter of each calendar year. Information about past training webinars is available on our project page; any forthcoming training webinars will be announced on our news page and disseminated through our monthly newsletter.

In addition, we recruit and train about a dozen new volunteer COI researchers each year. Our recruitment usually opens in the fourth quarter of each year. For more information on how to apply to become a volunteer researcher, please refer to this page.

Commentaries on Government-Produced COI Research

Each year, we publish a small selection of commentaries on research produced by governments and intergovernmental organisations. These commentaries highlight any methodological shortcomings and suggestions for further research. We encourage lawyers and NGOs to make use of our commentaries to inform their clients’ asylum appeal procedures. All of our commentaries are published on our project page.