New Start, New State for Newsman
Once the immediate danger and the atmosphere of crisis is over, refugees who are being resettled in Columbus and around the world face the challenge of realigning their new lives with their values, talents, and dreams. This predicament is vividly familiar to Jasim Algailany, a CRIS employee and former CRIS client featured in a recent article in the Columbus Dispatch. (Photo courtesy of Columbus Dispatch - Jonathan Quilter) Jasim grew up in Iraq, completed his university studies and by 2005 had a budding career in news media. He was hired by a television station to work on their website design, but, because of his English language skills, was soon placed in front of the cameras as an anchor of newscasts broadcast throughout the Middle East. The more he did at the station, the more passionate Jasim became about furthering his career in media. He hosted his own TV show in his hometown of Baghdad and was a proponent of different factions working together to address important socio-political issues. “We were broadcasting about overcoming differences and unity, representing a different trend than what the terrorists were trying to show,” he said. Fearing for his life, Jasim fled to Jordan, where he began graduate coursework in media production, hoping to return to Baghdad and continue his work. These dreams were dashed in 2007, when al-Qaida in Iraq blew up the station’s Baghdad office with a suicide truck bomb, killing three people. The rest of his colleagues fled to Jordan. Knowing it was impossible to return home, Jasim began the long process of refugee resettlement that ended when he moved to central Ohio in 2010.When possible, resettlement agencies like CRIS work to place refugees with a U.S. Tie - a family member or friend from their home - to ease the transition to a new environment. Jasim came to Columbus thanks to the support of a friend from Baghdad who had already been resettled in the city. Although being near his friend has been a great comfort to Jasim, all of his family is still in Iraq and he fears for their safety. “With different groups vying for power, it is still a very difficult time,” he says with a worried look, mentioning that, for safety, his family has had to move several times because of his very public expression of ideas that angered terrorist groups.Some might wonder why Jasim, like so many others now in Columbus, didn’t stay in Jordan, closer to home and among friends and colleagues from Iraq. “Gaining legal status in Jordan is a problem,” Jasim explains. “Visas are almost impossible to get and you can be deported at any time for any reason [...] Coming to the U.S. was my only option,” he states, with both resignation and a great appreciation for the opportunities that have opened to him in Columbus.Jasim has applied for a Ph.D. program at The Ohio State University to continue his studies in Journalism. He has not given up on his dreams. “You need to spend some time finding your way to make things happen,” Jasim instructs. “I want to finish what I have started.” News Anchor Clips