2 Situations Where a Country Conditions Researcher Can Help You Determine If a (Potential) Client Has a Strong Asylum Claim

I know that not every client or potential client has an asylum case that stands a good chance of winning 😟 . But I’ve seen immigration attorneys and NGOs a little too quickly drop pursuing an asylum case because they believe the conditions in the applicant’s country of origin don’t rise to the level of persecution.
 
❗ Please don’t be too quick to dismiss a claim on this ground!

❓ Because you simply may not you have the relevant knowledge about the country conditions.
 
Having a brief consultation or conversation with an expert country conditions researcher can help you quickly:
 
✅ Determine if there’s a good pool of sources given the applicant’s country, background, and claim.
 
✅ Determine which country conditions research strategy to deploy.
 
Here are two concrete situations where consulting with a country conditions researcher can help you:
 
1️⃣ You’re unsure if you’re client’s country of origin has any relevant abuses or forms of persecution – like Fiji 🇫🇯
 
One of my clients approached me and asked about a potential client from 🇫🇯 – a very unusual claim, I’ll readily admit.
 
💻 But, one hour of research and I was able to tell the attorney: given the client’s ethno-religious identity, Fiji's socio-political system that hails back to the colonial era, and continued ethno-religious systematic discrimination, the client’s claims can be corroborated by the evidence.
 
In this case, although I did the research, I and the attorney still felt that expert testimony from a scholar who exclusively focuses on Fijian politics and history would maximize the chances of success – so I researched and suggested a country expert, who happily agreed to write an expert report.
 
The result, the only one that matters: asylum granted! 🎉
 
2️⃣ You believe that the claim is supported by the country conditions evidence, but you’re not sure how exactly.
 
Another attorney recently contacted me to ask my opinion on whether an LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 client from an Asian country would suffer persecution based on her identity and activism. The attorney already had a lot of sources but just wasn’t sure if it was enough.
 
I reviewed the sources and could tell that the case was strong, but that it needed additional support. So, I conducted further research and found additional evidence of direct and systematic abuse of LGBTQ persons and activists in state-sponsored or state-run health and educational institutions.
 
Although this case is ongoing, I’m confident that the country information is now as solid as can be.