Ahmad Wali Ahmad-Yar

Ahmad Wali Ahmad-Yar is a PhD researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) with the Interface Demography (ID) research group. He is currently working on the Horizon 2020 project ‘Enhanced Migration Measures from a Multidimensional Perspective’ (HumMingBird) and his research focuses on international migration statistics, particularly on gaps in international migration data. His role in the MIrreM project is to conduct research on understanding the legal and policy contexts of irregular migration in Belgium and France. Moreover, Ahmad Wali supports the UNHCR in Belgium as a facilitator for establishing community-based “Refugee Committees” where the voice of refugees is included policy and decision-making processes. Ahmad Wali holds a master’s degree in Political Science from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and a bachelor’s in International Relations from al Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Previously, Ahmad Wali worked at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) on the integration of migrants, EU policies on migration, and migrant integration policies at the local level. Ahmad Wali has also worked as an interpreter for the UNHCR in Central Asia and as a Public Relations Officer for the Ariana Social Centre, an NGO working for the improvement of the living conditions of the Afghan diaspora in Kazakhstan. He is originally from Afghanistan and has a keen personal interest in the history and current affairs of South-Central Asia.