Refugees are people who have fled their homelands due to war, persecution and political upheaval; there are as many as 12,000 to 25,000 refugees living in Greater Cincinnati, according to . They come from all over the world, from Syria to Ethiopia to Vietnam.
And while Cincinnati is much safer and more stable than the areas they fled, these individuals and families face a variety of challenges as they try to adapt to entirely new surroundings and a new way of life.
Organizations such as and are hoping to provide a sustainable support system to these individuals and ensure they are properly settled. Joining us to talk about refugees, their plight and ways to help are RefugeeConnect Program Director Robyn Lamont; Catholic Charities Director of Refugee Resettlement Services, Megan Zarnitz; immigration lawyer and founder of , Richard Fleischer; and ZiadRazzak, who lived in Saudi Arabia and Beirut, Lebanon before immigrating to the United States.