Looking back, moving forward

Steph and I met as COI researchers in 2007, back when we were working for a UK legal advice charity that had a COI unit to support its legal advisors (imagine!). Unfortunately, changes to the way legal aid was funded meant that it was no longer feasible to fund COI research and the unit was shut down in 2010, with the charity closing the year after- and so began the decimation of the asylum legal advice sector. We wanted to keep the work going, in particular a number of projects we were involved in to improve the standards and use of COI, so we took the plunge to strike out alone and set up Asylum Research Centre (ARC).

The international COI community in 2010 was really small at that time, with few opportunities to connect and collaborate, but it was always important to ARC to expand and grow our network and champion COI in refugee decision-making. That’s why when Asylos emerged on the scene with its unique international volunteer-led model, we were keen to explore how we could join forces, especially when the then European Asylum Support Office (EASO) became operational and announced its intention to produce COI reports and later guidance as part of advancing a common European asylum system.

Over the years and many coffees in south London we developed various project partnerships, delivered through ARC’s charitable branch set up in 2016, some of which continue today.

One shared interest was to equip lawyers with resources to undertake their own research when a case specific COI report wasn’t feasible. After many drafts and much testing this led to a deep partnership with the then core Asylos’ staff (the dear Sophie, Maya and Lara) to design and co-deliver online training during the pandemic, which now has expanded modules and reached hundreds of legal advisors, and resulted in numerous toolkits and the publication of a sources’ database.

Over conversations in the margins of an EASO Consultative Forum meeting, we brainstormed how we could promote the use of academic research and expert insights as a form of COI, and connect more people claiming asylum to this type of evidence without the need for expert reports. Many design meetings and funding applications later, the strategic COI project was born, designed to draw on the strength and depth of Asylos’ volunteer network and local connections alongside ARC’s scoping of evidence gaps on issues which are vulnerable to poor decision-making owing to the absence of COI. It’s been wonderful to see how the project has been progressed and developed over time and become an integral part of Asylos, is now able to centre lived experience and draw on the expertise of advisory panels to reach many more people in need of relevant and reliable COI.

In 2022, we decided to wind down ARC Foundation (though ARC remains operational for selected consultancy projects) to move onto other ventures, a difficult decision that was made easier as Asylos was able to keep the shared projects alive and take on ARC’s projects of reviewing State produced COI. We of course couldn’t leave the COI projects fully behind though, and were delighted to join Asylos’ incredible board of Trustees in early 2022.

We remain as passionate as ever about improving access to COI, in the face of challenges that starting out we couldn’t have imagined – untold pressure on the legal advice landscape, AI, the use of automation in refugee decision-making – against the backdrop of increasingly hostile rhetoric where people claiming asylum are weaponised for political gain. Only by supporting each other to work in furtherance of clear goals do we have the chance to adapt and respond to the changing COI landscape.

As Vice-Chair and board members, we remain committed to Asylos and are so excited that 2026 will bring a new strategy, two new core roles, new projects and partnerships so that Asylos can drive equitable access to protection through relevant and reliable COI.

Liz Williams and Stephanie Huber-Nagel.