Jill Alpes

Dr. Jill Alpes (she/her) is a senior researcher at the Human Rights Centre at Ghent University. Her research focuses on ethnographic studies of migration governance, with a focus on removals and post-return dynamics. Currently, her work revolves around the production of evidence for pushback litigation and is funded by the ERC project DISSECT. Dr. Alpes cultivates an interest in creative research methods and has published in the Journal of Refugee Studies on the basis of co-designed and co-facilitated “futures literacy labs” with Syrian families in Lebanon. She is the author of Abroad at any cost: Brokering high-risk migration and illegality in West Africa (Routledge, 2017) and has published amongst others in JEMS, POLAR, Africa, REMI, Social and Legal Studies, Autrepart and African Disapora.

Philippe Boncour

Dr. Boncour (he/him), a French carrier civil servant, currently serves as Special Advisor to the French Ambassador at large for Science, Technology and Innovation, Mrs. Catherine Bréchignac, former President of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and “Secrétaire perpétuel” of the French Academy of Sciences. Dr. Boncour is a Part-time Faculty Member at SciencesPo, where he delivers a course on Migration Management. From 2014 to 2018, he was the Head of Cooperation and Cultural Affairs at the French Embassy to Tanzania and the East African Community, specifically dealing with the situation of refugees and migrants in Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda in collaboration with UNHCR, IOM and the EU delegation. From 2002 to 2012, Dr. Boncour served as a senior official of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) at its Geneva Headquarters. Dr. Boncour spent most of his previous career abroad, working for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various capacities. Dr. Boncour is “professeur agrégé hors classe” and Commander of the French Order of the Academic Palms. He holds a Master and a Doctorate from the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV).

Filippo Dionigi

Dr. Dionigi (he/him) is a Senior Lecturer of Politics and International Relations at the University of Bristol. His research is focuses on IR theory with the scope of Middle East politics. Currently, his work revolves around the impact of Syrian displacement on neighboring countries, and cultivates an interest in text-mining applied to Islamist discourse. He is the author of the book “Hezbollah, Islamist Politics, and International Society” (Routledge Palgrave 2014), and several academic articles in IR and area-studies journals. His research has been funded by the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, and the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond among others.

Charbel Maydaa

Dr. Maydaa (he/she/they) is the founder and former Director of MOSAIC MENA (MOSAIC, the MENA Organization for Services, Advocacy, Integration and Capacity building) a non-governmental organization committed to the improvement of the health and wellness of LGBTIQ persons in the MENA region. He is a certified trainer on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, Sex Characteristics, Reproductive Health/Rights and Clinical Management for women and men survivors of sexual violence/rape. He currently serves as the Alternate Co-Chair and West Asia Representative of ILGA Asia, as well as a Researcher and Co-Investigator at the UKRI GCRF Gender, Justice and Security hub at the London School of Economics. Dr. Maydaa is the Co-author of the paper “Trust no one, beware of everyone: Vulnerabilities of LGBTI Refugees in Lebanon” published in the edited volume “A Gendered Approach to the Syrian Refugee Crisis” (Routledge 2017).

Jennifer Skulte-Ouaiss

Anna Bailey-Morley

Anna (she/her) is a researcher working on migration. She holds a Master’s degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies in International Law and an undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh in Arabic and History. Anna previously worked with St. Andrews Refugee Services in Cairo, providing support to the refugee legal aid team. She is currently working as a research assistant on a research series at the Global Affairs Think Tank, ODI, looking at public attitudes and narratives around refugees and other migrants. This is in addition to a research project looking at the significance of migration in supporting the green transition.

Romain Mellies Horiot

Romain (he/him) is a graduate student completing his MA in human rights, refugee and asylum law at the Sciences Po’s Paris School of International Affairs. He has a background in history, sociology and international political science. His research currently centers around refugee and asylum law under the legal, historical and sociological prism. His ongoing research engages with the EU’s and France’s response to refugee movements from the SWANA region since 2011. Prior to joining the IMS, Romain served as a research assistant at the French National Court of Asylum (CNDA)’s Research Centre, studying the European asylum framework and its flaws, and the access to asylum for Palestinian refugees in the EU.

Dana Azzeh

Dana (she/her) is an Educator and an independent researcher. She holds a Master’s degree in social work from Columbia University, with a focus on international social welfare and services for immigrants and refugees. Dana worked as a research assistant with several academic institutions, as well as a Lecturer at the German Jordanian University, where she taught a course on “Conducting Research with Refugees and Vulnerable Populations” alongside other social work courses. In addition to her academic background, Dana is a humanitarian practitioner, and has worked for UNHCR and other NGOs in different capacities across Jordan, Turkey, and Uganda. Her current research centers on identity formation among Palestinian refugee youth in Lebanon.

Kristýna Kvasničková

Kvasničková (she/her) is a PhD student of Social Geography and Regional Development (SGRR) and a researcher at GEOMIGRACE Research Center at the Charles University (CU) in Prague, Czechia. She is a member of a research team focusing on factors influencing immobility in the Global South countries. She is a member of the Czech Evaluation Society CES and has previously worked as a program director of an NGO in Poland focused on Global Education. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Ostrava in NGO management and a master’s degree in Global Migration and Development Studies from CU. Kristýna also holds a diploma from Ethics in Journalism that helps her navigate her work as a freelance photojournalist focused on social and political issues. Her published work includes the Czech newspapers Deník N and Hospodářské Noviny.

Bechara Samneh

Samneh (he/him) is the Special Projects Coordinator at ILGA Asia for the Special Project to Assist LGBTI Afghans at Risk. He serves as one the MENA Organization for Services Advocacy Integration and Capacity Building (MOSAIC MENA) Board Members, where his work is focused on finding specialized and comprehensive service provisions for marginalized groups on a national and regional level. Additionally, he works in research and advocacy for policy reform on intersectional topics specialized in SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity/Expressions, and Sex Characteristics), refugees and environmental justice. He also served as the Youth Program Coordinator at MOSAIC, working on the capacity development of youths and their respective communities. He publishes academic and para-academic articles on social engagement in the fight against human rights violations, especially in the areas of LGBTIQ+ rights violations in the MENA region. He holds an MA in Economics and Policies from University College London (UCL), an MA in International Management of Public Procurement from the University of Rome - Tor Vergata, and a BA in Chemical Engineering from the American University of Beirut (AUB).

Chiara Scissa

Scissa (she/her) is a PhD student in Law at the ‘Institute of Law, Politics and Development’ (DIRPOLIS) at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, co-coordinator of the Environmental Migration Hub within the Institute’s DREAM Research Area. She is a former Visiting Research Fellow at the IOM Regional Office in Vienna (Migration, Environment and Climate Change Division as well as Policy and Liaison Division). She also serves as an external peer-reviewer for UNESCO’s upcoming SIDS Resilience Report. Previously, she served as Human Rights and Migrant Protection Focal Point at the UN Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY), and collaborated with numerous universities in the development of EU-funded projects on migration, asylum, sustainable development and human rights, including the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice and the University of Bologna. There, she also worked as Supervisor, Tutor and Project Assistant. She obtained her Master’s Degree in International Cooperation and the Protection of Human Rights cum laude from the same University.

Mohammad Al-Abbas 

Al-Abbas (he/him) is a MEPI Tomorrow’s Leaders Graduate Scholar currently pursuing an MA in International Relations at LAU. Prior to enrolling in his MA, Mohammad completed a BE in Electrical Engineering at LAU. His research focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on migrant networks, labor rights, and healthcare access as well as the existence of discriminatory policies that forcibly expelled migrants from host countries. He is also proficient in data analytics, machine learning, and statistical methodologies. Other research interests of his include research assessment, Scientometrics, gender diversity within higher education, science-of-science, and policy design.

Miguel Mendelek

Mendelek (he/him) serves as the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Assistant Project Coordinator at the Arab Institute for Women at LAU. He completed his BA in Political Science and International Affairs, and his MA in International Affairs with an emphasis in Middle East Area Studies at LAU. His research interests stem from the field of international relations, with a great focus on security, migration and governance studies, notwithstanding his contribution to understanding Feminist trends in different political and social contexts. Through his first publication featured in Al-Raida Journal, he explored the effects of Lebanon’s compounded crises on anti-Feminist backlash in the aftermath of the 2020 Beirut Blast. Importantly, Miguel firmly believes that multidisciplinary research is core to understanding complex events in the political and international realms. Through his contribution to the Institute for Migration Studies, and with a prime focus on the Middle East and Lebanon, Miguel, through different research publications, will explore the different patterns of ongoing migration trends, their socio-political context and their effect on home and host countries