Ah​mad Wali Ahmad Yar

Ahmad Wali Ahmad-Yar is a Ph.D. researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in the faculty of Social Sciences & Solvay Business School. His primary research interest revolves around the gaps in international migration theories and data, EU migration and integration policies, family reunification of refugees and diaspora mobilisation. Ahmad Wali is concurrently enrolled as a Ph.D. student at the Research Centre in Political Science (CICP) at the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal.

With a master's degree in political science from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Ahmad's academic achievements are distinguished. Prior to his current position, he gained valuable experience as a junior researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)​ in Brussels, Belgium, where he dedicated nearly three years to researching international migration, EU migration policies, and the integration of immigrants in Europe. His focus later expanded to encompass topics such as the Role of the EU in Global Governance, differentiated integration in the European Union, and the EU's actorness and effectiveness.

Born in Afghanistan, Ahmad Wali completed his elementary and secondary education in his home country. In 2010, he was awarded a prestigious scholarship that allowed him to pursue a bachelor's degree in international relations at al-Farabi Kazakh National University in the Republic of Kazakhstan. During his time there, he immersed himself in the Russian and Kazakh languages and actively engaged with the Afghan diaspora in Central Asia through his role as a Public Relations Officer and head of the youth council at the Ariana Social Centre, an NGO focused on the social development of Afghan communities in the region. Additionally, Ahmad worked as a professional translator and interpreter for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).