From Beirut to Rome and Palermo – HSG students research migration policy

HSG students in the Lebanese city of Sidon in 2023.

Since 2016, HSG faculty member Andreas Böhm has been conducting a university course in a region of the world that has been repeatedly affected by armed conflicts and political crises. At the time, he launched the course “The Law, the Economics and the Politics of Migration” with former HSG professor Christoph Frei and Mahmoud Haidar, a teacher at the American University of Beirut (AUB). In this course, HSG and AUB students work together in Lebanon to examine how the country is dealing with the refugee crisis that has been ongoing since 2011. The course is offered by HSG's Master in International Law.

Around 25% of Lebanon's population are Syrian refugees. “We are interested in the principle of how a fragile state like Lebanon can cope with this and what other actors play a role in this,” says Böhm.
Before their field trip to Lebanon, the HSG students work on issues related to migration policy. During a five-day stay in Lebanon, made possible by the generous support of the HSG Institute for Legal Studies and Legal Practice (IRP-HSG), they discuss their theses with AUB students as well as Lebanese researchers and representatives of NGOs, the UN, the ICRC and other international organisations. These representatives give them feedback and report on their experiences in practice.

Milena Müller, 35, was one of the first HSG students to travel to Lebanon in 2016. “Thanks to the contacts I made during the course, I was able to visit the country several times and write my Master's thesis on Syrian refugees in Lebanon,” she says. Today, Müller works in resource mobilisation at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). “The experience of the HSG course, the Master paper and the academic exchange with people on the ground strengthened my desire to work towards mitigating the humanitarian consequences of conflicts,” says Müller.

Hamas attack had consequences

During the trip, the HSG students were confronted with completely different political, social and cultural conditions, says course instructor Böhm. “That's certainly where the greatest learning effect lies.” And co-teacher Mahmoud Haidar adds: “The course shows how politics works when faced with a real problem.” He recalls many moments when students saw the abstract realities they had researched in concrete terms, thus getting to the heart of their case studies.

A trip within Lebanon – for example to refugee centres – is also part of the programme. More than 100 HSG students from the International Affairs and International Law Master's programmes have taken the course so far.

After Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, it is no longer possible to hold the course in Lebanon due to security concerns: Israel fought the Lebanese Hezbollah in the course of the conflict, and there were also attacks on the outskirts of Beirut. “It was difficult for me to know that close friends of mine were in a war zone,” says Böhm. He has been travelling and studying in the Middle East for over 30 years. After completing his doctorate in political science at HSG, he worked as a political consultant for the Middle East and North Africa for leading Swiss companies.

The academic exchange with AUB students is also impressive for HSG students because the young Lebanese are severely affected by this crisis: in spring 2024, around half of AUB students had lost their homes due to the war. “This direct experience with those affected sharpens the HSG students’ perspective. And it shows us how privileged we are,” says Böhm.

'The course challenged my opinions'

In the spring semester of 2024, the course was relocated to the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali (LUISS) in Rome due to the tense security situation in Lebanon. The students' case studies were discussed together with Italian NGOs that support Syrian refugees.

Adrian Steiner, a 27-year-old student at HSG studying International Law, was in Rome in spring 2024. “The on-site visit made it possible to get in touch with people who are confronted with problems on a daily basis that are often treated theoretically in a university setting,” he says. The academic exchange with the Lebanese students also showed him how strongly opinions and perspectives depend on the context in which they are formed. “Before the course, I had dealt in depth with the topics of migration and refugee movements, as well as the region around Syria, and therefore came to the course with well-established opinions. These were then repeatedly challenged,” says Steiner, looking back.

Still in Italy in 2025 due to security concerns

Even though Lebanon has had a president and a Cantonal Council again since the beginning of 2025 after a two-and-a-half-year interregnum, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) advises against “non-essential” travel. So this year's field trip of the course at the beginning of April 2025 went to the Università degli Studi di Palermo. There, at a hotspot on the EU's external border, research is conducted and teaching is carried out in various programmes on the topic of migration.

This will provide opportunities for academic exchange between HSG students and Master's students and doctoral candidates who are working on issues related to the topic of migration. They will also visit various institutions and organisations that work for and with migrants.