Shaddin Almasri

Q1. Who are you?

My name is Shaddin Almasri and I am a PhD student in Migration studies based in Austria now. My background is on refugee and labour migration in Jordan and more recently expanded to the Levant, the Gulf states and East Africa. My background is a mix of research and policy work, activism and advocacy with a particular interest in the in- and exclusion of refugee and migrant groups, whether that be in accessing certain social groups, social protection structures or the countries that migrants are trying to get to in the first place. My PhD research is specifically on nationality-based differentiation in refugee aid and protection policy, focusing on Jordan, Turkey and Ethiopia.

Q2. What was your motivation for applying for the FFVT fellowship? Why Germany?

I really like the structure of the programme, and I also wanted to experience work in a different field or research area. For me as a PhD candidate, it is very special to be able to turn my attention to a new project and passion area. Besides, it was very useful for me to apply to this programme to have a change of scenery and to get involved in new networks of interaction that could benefit my research but also give me new spaces where I have the chance to share the knowledge that I have gathered.

Q3. What do you expect from the fellowship?

I am hoping for a refresh in energy. The PhD process is very long and cumulative, and the fellowship is giving me the opportunity to start fresh with a new, small project and gather new motivation.
I am only here for a short time, so I am also hoping to produce one written product while I am in the FFVT fellowship with a focus on the Job Compacts in Ethiopia and Jordan. With this fellowship, I want to take myself out of my personal comfort zone. My background is in policy and political economy, and this fellowship is taking me more into comparative politics and governance, so I am looking forward to this challenge and to learning from the expertise around me. 

Q4. What is the focus of your work, and what is innovative about it? / What are your planned outcomes and activities for the fellowship period? And how do they relate to your FFVT hosting institution/ the FFVT cooperation project?

I am excited to be looking more closely at the Job Compacts in Jordan and Ethiopia, which, like other aid and development deals, shape policies that quietly dictate how much of the refugee experience works out in major host countries.

What is innovative about this approach is that the scientific and policy discussions of the Job Compacts tend to focus on where the Compacts fail, while I would rather like to know what would make a government responsive to them. In general, and beyond the scope of this specific product, I want to contribute my personal perspective that was strongly coined in Jordan on where people experience exclusion. This is something I try to keep in mind during my work and was the source of my interest in the Compacts in the first place: I am asking myself, how did the Compacts impact people that were not included in its architecture in the first place? I am always trying to make sure that I am assessing what is often overlooked.