LibGuides: Refugee & Asylum Law: Country Condition Reports

Government Agency Information

Many governments, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations provide country condition or county of origin information and reports for jurisdiction (and themes) around the world.

Some government agencies compile packages of reports. Not all documents and reports are availlable in English.

For more information on human rights research and related organizations, see International Human Rights research guide. Or consult these directories:

Worldwide NGO Directory
Browse or search; can filter by country and topic.

UNHCR Partner Directory, many organizations that work with the UN High Commissioner on Refugees

Other Governments

Researching Country of Origin Information, Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD) 2013.

Manual for methods and quality standards for conducting COI research. Three editions: 2004, 2013, 2024.

Belgium Office of the Commissioner-General for Refugees, Country of Origin Information

Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board

Denmark Immigration Services, Country Information

Finnish Immigration Service, Country of Origin Reports (by theme and country)

Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre

Landinfo, Organized by region. Documents are available in either English or Norwegian.

United Kingdom, Visas and Immigration

Country Policy and Information
Home Office Archive, Country of Origin Service
Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (IAGCI), Inspection of Country of Origin Reports

U.S. Government

U.S. Dept. of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Country Conditions Research

U.S. Dept. of State, Country Reports on Human Rights

Other State Dept. reports:

U.S. Dept. of Labor, Worst Forms of Child Labor

CRS (Congressional Research Service) Reports
Nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports often provide pro and con positions, overviews, statistics and analysis.

Go to "Proquest Congressional Publications" from the databases page (UCB only)
Select "Search for CRS Reports"
Search the name of the country and "Background"(search in the title field

Freely available CRS reports:

CRS website
- Ex.: Central America Regional Security Initiative: Background and Policy Issues for Congress (2015)
- Ex.: Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program
FAS CRS: archived CRS reports.

IGO and NGO Country Conditions Reports

IGOs

NGOs

AFRICA

African Union (AU). African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, State Reports

EUROPE

Council of Europe's European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). States tab > news and reports by country

EDAL European Database of Asylum Law
Focuses on 22 European Countries, the database contains case law, documentation, legislation, Country Overviews, and supporting documents.

European Union, European Asylum Support Office
Covers countries around the world.

AMERICAS

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (OAS)

Select "Reports" -- Country and Thematic reports.

UNITED NATIONS

UN, High Commissioner for Human Rights

UN, High Commissioner for Refugees, Refworld: news, profiles, reports, and maps

Select the "Collections" tab, then Research & Publications for access to country reports.

UNICEF, Publications. Focus is on children.

United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)

Amnesty International. Country and topical reports.

Canadian Council for Refugees

Center for Gender & Refugee Studies

Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR)

Information by Country

European Country of Origin Information Network, (ECOI), Sources and Country Priorities: Covers countries around the world. A good place for gathering reports from other organizations.

Country Monitoring

European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE).

International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Minority Rights Group.

Asylum Research Centre (ARC), Country and topic-specific reports.

Asylos' COI Research Database, Broad coverage. You must be a member to search, but the database entries provide enough information to search for the relevant document using a web search engine.

Asylum Information Database (AIDA)
A database containing information on asylum procedures, reception conditions and detention across 23 EU countries.

ECLAC, Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean

Freedom House
Comparative assessment of political rights and civil liberties.

Human Rights First

Human Rights Watch
Reports by country and topic.

Insight Crime
Focus is on organized crime.

Internal Displacement Monitoring Center

International Crisis Group
Information on conflicts around the world.

Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Country Resources

Minority Rights Group