Community Refugee & Immigration Services (CRIS): Assisting Refugees and Immigrants in Columbus, Ohio

CRIS’s beginnings were humble. It began as a program offered by the Buddhamamaka (Buddhist Devotees) Society, Inc., an organization which was itself founded in the 1980s by Laotian refugees. In 1995 the Buddhamamaka established CRIS in order to fill the gap that was opened by the closure of two local refugee resettlement programs.

2023-05-10T21:32:23-05:00Categories: Immigration Articles|Tags: , |

International Student Services at Universities in Columbus, Ohio

Although not every college and university in Ohio has established a special office dedicated to serving international students, many have done so. The following are descriptions of the activities of the international student offices at some of those universities.

The Bhutanese/Nepali Community of Columbus, Ohio

Columbus enjoys the distinction of hosting over 20,000 Bhutanese-Nepali refugees, the largest such population of any US city. The majority of these refugees are members of a minority ethnic group, the Lhotshampa, that originated in Nepal. These people moved to Bhutan long ago, but in 1990 the Bhutanese government expelled the Lhotshampa people from Bhutan in retaliation for the participation of some of them in pro-democracy protests.

How Refugees and Immigrants Economically Revitalized the Northland Area of Columbus, Ohio

The Northland area of Columbus, Ohio is composed of about 25 individual neighborhoods bounded by Cleveland Avenue, Karl Road, Busch Boulevard, Dublin-Granville Road, and Morse Road. For a long time now the area has been known as an economically struggling area. That perception, as well as the reality behind it, has started to change in recent years as Columbus’s immigrant entrepreneurs revitalize the area.

Recent African Immigration to Columbus, Ohio

Arguably, Columbus’s first wave of “African immigration” was a domestic migration from the South during the Great Migration beginning in about 1900, when millions of African-Americans moved north and west to escape bleak economic prospects and racial segregation in the South. Nowadays, however, Columbus is experiencing a second wave of immigration -- this time directly from Africa.

Immigration Information and Resources for Columbus, Ohio

As the 14th largest city in the United States, you would expect the Columbus immigration scene to be vibrant and full of life. And it is, with over 150,000 people, or about 8 percent of the total population of Columbus, having been born overseas. Ultimately, of course, nearly all Columbus residents can trace their ancestry back to an immigrant.

Go to Top