About
Research topic:
Syrian Refugees since the Fall of Assad: Protection Pathways, Integration, and Patterns of Return
Rachel Aicher is a PhD candidate in Social Policy, funded by an LSE Studentship. Her research analyzes the dynamics of international protection, integration, and return migration, focusing on Syrian refugees. This study illuminates concepts of refuge and agency by exploring how different protection pathways – such as humanitarian visas in Brazil and community sponsorship in the UK – relate to Syrians’ integration experiences, return preferences, and repatriation choices following regime change in Damascus. At the policy level, route and return decisions have practical implications for global migration governance, integration programs, and post-war recovery plans.
Rachel has focused on rights and justice throughout her career, with migration as a cross-cutting theme in her work with civil society, government, and philanthropy. Prior to joining the Social Policy Department at LSE, Rachel led USAID’s stabilization, peacebuilding, and democracy programs in Uganda and Palestine. She began her career in progressive advocacy at the Open Society Foundations, then served overseas as a US diplomat – including in Jordan during the peak of the Syrian refugee crisis. She also worked with the International Legal Foundation (ILF) and the Arab-American Family Support Center (AAFSC) in New York.
Rachel holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard in Middle Eastern Studies and an MPhil in International Relations from Nuffield College, Oxford. She has taught American government as an Adjunct Lecturer in Political Science at Hunter College, City University of New York. More recently, Rachel completed an MSc in International Social and Public Policy at the LSE, researching how London boroughs manage migration challenges and maintain community support.
Research interests:
Migration, Refugees, Global Governance, Cities
Supervisors: Professor Lucinda Platt and Professor Armine Ishkanian