Ashiraf Mugalula
2026 Fellow
Waiting to Work: Temporal Precarity, Legal Status, and Cross-Border Labour Mobilities of Refugees in Uganda
Ashiraf Mugalula is a Research Fellow at Al-Mustafa Islamic University, Kampala, in the Department of Governance, Peace and International Studies under the School of Arts and Social Sciences, where he researches and convenes courses on political violence, forced migrations, social justice, refugee livelihoods, migration governance, and borderland dynamics, with a particular focus on Africa’s Great Lakes region. He is also a PhD Fellow at Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), Makerere University, pursuing an interdisciplinary PhD in Social Studies. His doctoral research examines the political economy of refugee and migration governance, land and agrarian dynamics in refugee-hosting districts, forced displacement and durable solutions, refugee livelihoods, and the humanitarian-development nexus.
Ashiraf holds an MPhil in Social Studies from Makerere University, a Master’s in Research and Public Policy from Uganda Martyr’s University, a BA in Ethics and Human Rights (First Class) from Makerere University, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Law Development Centre. He was a 2024 CCNY Scholar supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, participating in the African Studies Association Annual Meeting. He previously worked as a Youth Research Fellow with the Mastercard Foundation and Restless Development Uganda Hub under the Pan-African Youth Think Tank, informing policy on what works for promoting meaningful refugee youth participation. Ashiraf has also served as a Research Officer at the Uganda Red Cross Society, where he led research on refugee conflict risk reduction, and as a Policy Research and Advocacy Officer at the Institute for Policy and Governance.
His publications include works on refugee livelihoods, migration governance, borderland dynamics, and the political economy of refugee policy in Uganda. His research takes a decolonial and interdisciplinary approach to knowledge production, centring the voices, experiences, and knowledge systems of displaced communities and their hosts. He is committed to contributing towards decolonial methodological thought in refugee and migration studies through research interventions that challenge dominant narratives and centre African perspectives. He is also the Founder and Team Leader of Inspire A Dream Initiative (IDI), a youth-led peacebuilding organisation in Uganda working with refugees, youth, and vulnerable communities.