Mahmoud Murad is a bilingual Community worker and bi-cultural researcher working on Advocate and empowering people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.

Background

My name is Mahmoud Murad. I have been graduated from the Agricultural Vocational High School in 2007. I dreamed of completing my study of agricultural engineering, but the economic circumstances did not allow me to do so. I have worked in a printing shop as an offset assistant worker for more than four years, between 2007 and 2012, when I had to leave my job because of the war in Homs, where I used to live.

I define myself as a worker with disabilities, as I worked as a printing press worker and I am passionate about standing up for the workers’ rights, the Disability rights, and the the rights of refugees and forced migrants.

I got involved in trade union work while I was working in the printing press (to improve working circumstances and reduce working hours), but the political circumstances in Syria were very risky at that time, so I had to step back and start reading about Marxist thought and get to know the left and socialist tendencies before I started turning to Focus on human rights.

During the Syrian Revolution, I launched our neighborhood newspaper with my friends. But the newspaper did not continue because of the Assad army’s bombing of the Baba Amr neighborhood, in which I lived until February 2012, when I was subjected to political arrest when I left the militarily besieged neighborhood.”

Baba Amr neighborhood was completely destroyed and the population was displaced during February 2012, after a history of military raids that lasted about eight months.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/01/syrian-rebels-retreat-baba-amr-homs

Volunteering

I joined the Red Crescent during my high school. So I rejoined the Red Crescent in 2013 in the southern Homs district. before I left Syria by reason of the military operations that pressured the displaced from the city of al-Qusayr to leave Syria in mid-2013. In 2013 I moved to Lebanon and was involved in volunteering with a welfare organization to support Syrian refugees.

In 2014 I moved to Australia under the UN resettlement program. since my arrival, I have been involved in many volunteering with the Syrian community including the established initiative of the Syrian Australian Forum network on the Facebook platform. In 2016 I won the Questathon Startup contest to launch a website. I have been preparing with my friends to establish the website with his friends for several months. In 2017 RefugeeHub Blog was been launched.

Youth worker (CMRC & Sydwest)

In March 2018, I got my first contract as a youth facilitator with the Youth Transition Support Program(YTSP) with the Community Migrant Resource Centre (CMRC) to improve vocational training and employment outcomes to enhance participation in work and education.

Education

During my work, I continued my studies to obtain Certificate VI in Youth work and a diploma of community service (case management) as a path towards completing university studies related to human rights. In 2023 I started my postgraduate studies through a Graduate Certificate as a pathway to Master of disability and Inclusion.

Research Field

In 2019, I was engaged in a research opportunity, as a bi-cultural researcher a research assistant with UNSW examining human rights using arts-based research methods, and a lived experience research lead.

In 2021, I have been worked with Deakin University as Associate Research Fellow and project manger on Research project : Co-designing Resources to Increase Access to Information and Services: Syrian and Iraqi people with disability from refugee backgrounds and service providers.

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