Country Conditions/Country of Origin Information (COI) Research is the process of gathering information about the internal conditions of a foreign country. Lawyers that represent refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. must prove that their clients are "unable or unwilling to return to, and [are] unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." (see 8 U.S.C. sec. 1101(a)(42)(A); 8 U.S.C. sec. 1158(b)(1)(A)).