COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus City Council is creating a new committee called the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. 

What You Need To Know

  • Columbus City Council created a new committee called the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs 

  • Council created this committee to ensure the immigrant and refugee community is represented during local policy-making decisions

  • Democratic Republic of Congo refugee, Blaze Balazire, says this committee will bring a voice to the voiceless 

City leaders said this commission is over a year in the making. A refugee who lives in central Ohio said that representation is everything. 

“I was in the refugee camp for 11 years, so I flew in my country in 2005 when there was a civil war,” said refugee Blaze Balazire.  

Balazire is a Democratic Republic of Congo refugee. He was placed in Columbus in September of 2016 by the United Nations resettlement program and has lived in central Ohio working With Community Refugee and Immigration Services ever since. 

“Since (then), I've been here and I never left. So Columbus been good to me. So I really had no choice but they chose as well for me. And it is a good fit for me,” said Balazire. 

Columbus City Council has been working on the new commission on immigrant and refugee affairs for over a year. Council has hosted countless public hearings and has collaborated with different local organizations on the matter. Balazire believes this committee will give a voice to the voiceless and elevate the immigrant and refugee community is a positive way. 

“It's something that will boost again and help the voice of immigrants, refugees that are living in Columbus, Ohio, to be heard about their safety, about their issues that they're dealing with every day,” said Balazire.

The committee will comprise of 15 members, one of them being 25 years old or younger, and every member will be appointed by city council. Columbus City Council member Lourdes Barroso de Padilla has been a champion for immigrants and refugees in the community. As a daughter of immigrants herself, she believes it’s important to have representation for these communities during policy-making decisions. 

“We knew that as we continue to grow, that we wanted to be proximate to these emerging communities and ensure that they had a voice at the table and ensure that we understood what some of the challenges and opportunities are in these communities,” said Barroso de Padilla. 

Balazire now spends his time as a volunteer with community refugee and immigration services helping others coming to central Ohio because he knows what it feels like to come here and need support. 

“Since I got in Columbus, I just find that Congolese and other refugee was not well represented. And then that's how I start helping. Volunteering. Just to be in support. Like to help as much as I can,” said Balazire. 

The council said it's aiming for everything to be finalized with the committee at the beginning of next year.