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Making the Case
A state department fellowship to help families return to their countries
Photo: News Cameraman Video Journalist/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty ImagesA refugee camp in Syria.Brian Gran, a professor and human-rights expert, spent much of the 2020-21 academic year at the U.S. State Department as a Jefferson Science Fellow and policy advisor, pressing the case for families held in a Syrian refugee camp to return home.
The families were from across the globe but had a common attribute: They were related to terrorists who were in custody, had reformed or were dead.
Brian Gran
鈥淢y job was basically to create a convincing argument for why home countries should bring these people back,鈥� said Gran, PhD, JD, a professor of sociology, law and applied social sciences at Case Western Reserve. The argument: The countries had committed to human-rights treaties that obligated them to allow citizens to return home.
Gran presented the case at the State Department and before several organizations including a working group of the Council of Europe, composed of 47 member states.
He also spent one stressful night reviewing asylum-seeker requests during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Many were human-rights related. 鈥淧eople were worried they would be killed if they stayed in the country,鈥� he said.
Gran returned to campus full time in November, but will continue to serve as an expert consultant to the State Department through at least 2026.