Consulting
Advanced independent consulting services.
Research and network leadership for migration and human rights.
Themba Lewis is an independent consultant with twenty years' experience in research, network leadership, and knowledge production on migration, displacement, and human rights. He has directed regional research for the Mixed Migration Centre, led the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network as Secretary General, and built a global refugee legal-protection network spanning more than 150 countries at the Rights in Exile Programme. His work engages UN human rights mechanisms directly, and he has advised organisations including UNHCR, OHCHR, and the Danish Refugee Council on protection policy across Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Consultancies
Research, knowledge production, and network leadership on migration, displacement, and rights-based protection.
I have spent twenty years directing regional research programmes, building multi-country coalitions, and advising on protection frameworks across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. I have worked directly with UNHCR, OHCHR, UN Women, the UN Network on Migration, and a wide range of donors and NGOs, including the Danish Refugee Council, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), and the Mixed Migration Centre. My core expertise is in forced migration and refugee protection, and I have applied the same skills to climate-related displacement, immigration detention, and labour migration.
Who I work with
My core expertise is in refugee protection and forced migration. The underlying capabilities — applied research, coalition-building, training design, and knowledge production — transfer directly to organisations working on climate migration, immigration detention, and labour migration. I have built working relationships across UN agencies, international NGOs, donor institutions, and academic bodies, and I bring an understanding of each one's expectations, reporting requirements, and institutional culture to every engagement.
UN agencies and international organisations
Multi-country research design and delivery, including for IRAP and the Mixed Migration Centre
Engagement with UN human rights mechanisms — the Universal Periodic Review, treaty bodies, and Special Procedures
Representation at UN-level policy fora, including the International Migration Review Forum at UN Headquarters
NGOs and civil society coalitions
Policy analysis, briefings, and submissions to human rights mechanisms, including OHCHR
Coalition and consortium coordination, including as Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network
Editorial oversight and report production for organisations including Routledge and the Danish Refugee Council
Donors and academic institutions
Programme and MEAL framework design for donor-funded interventions
Training and capacity strengthening for practitioners, researchers, and affected communities, delivered with the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, the University of Auckland, and others
Editorial leadership on multi-contributor academic research
Selected work
IRAP — Spotlight on Local and Refugee-Led Efforts to Address Key Protection Needs (2022–23): I served as Advisory Consultant on a 22-country regional assessment of refugee-led protection actors, alongside Jessica Marsh as Lead Consultant.
Routledge — Forced Displacement and NGOs in Asia and the Pacific (2022): I co-edited this multi-contributor academic volume examining displacement and civil society response across Asia-Pacific.
Danish Refugee Council / Mixed Migration Centre: I directed regional research informing protection policy across Asia-Pacific, cited across major outlets and UN fora.
Institutional experience
ECHO · USG · UNHCR · OHCHR · UN Women · UNODC · UN Network on Migration
SERVICES
I offer six core services, each grounded in work I have delivered for named organisations rather than general claims of expertise. Every category below links to a specific engagement described in full on the Work page.
Applied research & rapid assessment
I design and deliver multi-country research, from rapid protection assessments to longer-form policy studies, using mixed-methods approaches suited to displacement contexts. I delivered this for the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)'s 22-country regional civic space assessment, and for the Mixed Migration Centre's research on Rohingya protection across Southeast Asia.
Policy analysis, briefings & submissions
I draft and coordinate submissions to UN human rights mechanisms, donor-facing policy briefs, and public commentary calibrated to practitioner and policymaker audiences. Examples include a submission to OHCHR on trafficking and refugee protection frameworks, made on behalf of the Asia Displacement Solutions Platform, and a submission to the UN High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement on behalf of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network.
Editorial leadership & report production
I provide structural and substantive editing for research volumes, donor reports, and multi-contributor publications, from concept through to publication. I co-edited Forced Displacement and NGOs in Asia and the Pacific, published by Routledge, and reviewed multiple research reports commissioned by the Danish Refugee Council and the Mixed Migration Centre.
Training & capacity strengthening
I design and deliver training on research methodology, evidence-based advocacy, and protection frameworks, for practitioners, diaspora advocates, and refugee-community researchers. I have delivered training with the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Sanremo, the CPG Online Academy (with Thammasat University, MĂĽnster University, and Goethe University Frankfurt), and directly with refugee-community representatives in Kuala Lumpur.
Coalition & consortium coordination
I provide strategic and operational leadership of multi-stakeholder networks and coalitions, including budget oversight, donor relations, and representation in high-level diplomatic and institutional dialogues. As Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, I led a 250+ member coalition across 25 countries, representing the network before UNHCR, OHCHR, and national human rights institutions.
Programme design & MEAL frameworks
I design programmes and proposals, including monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) frameworks for donor-funded interventions. This work is drawn from programme design across the Mixed Migration Centre, the Rights in Exile Programme, and independent consultancy assignments.
Operating parameters
Deliverable formats: rapid assessments, baseline studies, policy briefs, training curricula, editorial review, coalition strategy
Languages: English (full professional proficiency), French
Field capacity: in-country and remote; based in Denmark, with extensive prior field experience across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East
Donor compliance: familiarity with ECHO, USG, and UN agency reporting requirements
EXAMPLES
Research & Applied Assessment
IRAP — Spotlight on Local and Refugee-Led Efforts to Address Key Protection Needs (2022–2023) I served as Advisory Consultant for South and Southeast Asia, alongside Jessica Marsh as Lead Consultant. The report is a rapid assessment commissioned by the International Refugee Assistance Project, covering three regions — Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South/Southeast Asia — and drawing on interviews with 107 organisations in 22 countries, with a focus on refugee-led initiatives and local protection actors. [Link to report]
Danish Refugee Council / Mixed Migration Centre / Asia Displacement Solutions Platform / Geutanyoë Foundation / HOST International / Jesuit Refugee Service Indonesia — Refugee protection, human smuggling, and trafficking in Bangladesh and Southeast Asia (2022) As Head of MMC Asia and the Pacific, I commissioned and reviewed this research. Its findings fed a January 2023 public release by the Danish Refugee Council on the gap between anti-trafficking/anti-smuggling frameworks and refugees' actual protection needs, in which I was directly quoted: "It's apparent that existing approaches to anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling aren't flexible enough to account for the reality of refugees' experiences." [Link to report / press release]
Editorial Leadership & Writing
Forced Displacement and NGOs in Asia and the Pacific (Routledge, 2022) I co-edited this volume with Gül İnanç. Published by Routledge, it brings together academics, practitioners, and affected communities to examine conflict- and climate-driven displacement and civil society response across the Asia-Pacific region, including the pressures on shrinking civic space. [Link to publisher listing]
Selected commentary: "Bhasan Char and refugee 'warehousing'" (The Diplomat, 2022); "A new era for refugee protection in Thailand?" (Bangkok Post, 2020); "Why Hakeem al-Araibi matters" (Bangkok Post, 2019).
Policy Analysis & UN Engagement
International Migration Review Forum, UN Headquarters — Round Table Four (May 2022) I served as a named panellist, representing the Mixed Migration Centre, on one of four official round tables of the UN's inaugural review of the Global Compact for Migration. The panel addressed data collection, migrant vulnerabilities, and evidence-based public discourse against discrimination. My co-panellists included the Director of OHCHR's New York Office and a state minister. [Link to UN summary report]
Asia Displacement Solutions Platform — Submission to OHCHR on trafficking in persons and protection of refugees, stateless persons and IDPs (2023) I served as named point of contact, as Head of MMC Asia and the Pacific. The submission, made on behalf of the Asia Displacement Solutions Platform to OHCHR, analyses anti-trafficking and refugee protection frameworks in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, assesses their alignment with international law, and sets out concrete recommendations, including reform of the Bali Process. [Link to submission]
Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network — Submission to the UN High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement (May 2020) I co-signed this submission as APRRN Secretary General. It argues for meaningful participation of displacement-affected communities in policy design and cites documented COVID-19-related refoulement incidents. [Link to submission]
Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network — "Refugee Leadership during COVID-19 and Beyond" (June 2020) I spoke at this conference representing APRRN. My presentation addressed structural barriers to refugee leadership within INGOs and set out concrete recommendations for organisational change. [Link to conference report]
Training & Capacity Building
Professional Development Course on Evidence-Based Advocacy for the Afghan Diaspora (Copenhagen, Nov 2022) I co-designed and co-facilitated this course, leading sessions on research processes and Action Research methodology for Afghan diaspora advocates. It was convened by the Asia Displacement Solutions Platform, the Mixed Migration Centre, the Danish Refugee Council, and the University of Auckland's Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies. [Link to event summary]
Introduction to Research and Research Processes (Kuala Lumpur, July 2022) I co-designed and presented this training for refugee and refugee-community representatives, equipping them with research tools for their own advocacy use. It was convened by the Danish Refugee Council, the Mixed Migration Centre, and the Asia Displacement Solutions Platform.
International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Sanremo (2022) I gave a guest lecture at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law on the rise of refugee-led organisations, risks in beneficiary data handling, and the case for post-deportation monitoring.
CPG Online Academy on Migration and Displacement (2021–2022) I served as guest lecturer for the CPG Online Academy, teaching at Thammasat University, Münster University, and Goethe University Frankfurt. [Link to programme]
Network & Consortium Coordination
Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network — Secretary General (2018–2021) I led a 250+ member regional human rights network across 25 countries, with a secretariat of seven, under a volunteer Steering Committee, and held budget and fundraising responsibility through the COVID-19 pandemic. I set a multi-year advocacy strategy and coordinated joint submissions to the Universal Periodic Review and a shadow report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. I represented the network in dialogues with UNHCR, OHCHR, national human rights institutions, and diplomatic missions, and led a Global Refugee Forum gender assessment with UN Women.
ABOUT
I have spent twenty years directing research, policy engagement, and network leadership on migration, displacement, and human rights, across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
My core expertise is in refugee protection and forced migration. The underlying capabilities — applied research, coalition-building, training design, and knowledge production — extend to climate-related displacement, immigration detention, and labour migration.
I have directed regional research and analysis for the Mixed Migration Centre. I served as Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, directing a 250+ member coalition across 25 countries, and as Programme Manager and Co-Director of the Rights in Exile Programme (a joint initiative of the International Refugee Rights Initiative and Fahamu), where I built and sustained a global refugee legal-protection network across more than 150 countries. Earlier in my career, I worked as a caseworker on the US Refugee Admissions Program in sub-Saharan Africa, and as an accredited senior caseworker representing asylum seekers before UK tribunals.
I engage directly with the international protection framework — the Universal Periodic Review, UN treaty bodies, and Special Procedures — alongside applied research, policy analysis, and training design for practitioners and affected communities. This engagement has brought me into direct working contact with UNHCR, OHCHR, UN Women, national human rights institutions, and a wide range of donor and academic institutions, and I understand the reporting standards, institutional priorities, and decision-making structures each of these bodies works within.
I hold an MSc in Forced Migration from the University of Oxford and a Graduate Diploma in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies from the American University in Cairo. I am a registered member of the Law Society of England and Wales, with senior caseworker accreditation (Level 2) in UK asylum and immigration law.
I am also active as a documentary photographer working in displacement and human rights contexts — see [thembalewis.com].
Other engagements include the International Detention Coalition's International Advisory Committee (2019–21), the UN ESCAP regional review of the Global Compact for Migration (2021), and contributions to the Kaldor Centre's Guidelines for Co-produced Research with Refugees (2023).
[Full CV available on request / download]