Columbus resident fears for family s safety as Tigray conflict escalates dispatch.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dispatch.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Every night during dinner, Saideepika Rayala and her family turn on news from India, where most of their extended family still lives.
The scenes they see playing out there are heartbreaking for the teenager, who said she s seen people turned away from hospitals because there s not enough space as the nation battles a deadly second wave of COVID-19. People aren t even getting the chance to live, said the 19-year-old, who lives with her parents in Powell while she attends Yale University virtually this semester. I ve been trying to cope with everything, and seeing the news kind of destroys the sense of normalcy you re trying to feel here.
Mohamad Khawanda s family wasn t among them.
Originally from Syria, the 29-year-old North Side resident came alone to the United States from Egypt in 2019, assured his family soon would be able to follow.
First, the Trump administration s travel bans on Muslim-majority countries, including Syria, kept them out.
Then it was delay after delay as his family s medical clearances good for only six months expired before they got a flight. One time, their flight was canceled when they were all ready to go, and Khawanda still doesn t know why.
Now, he doesn t know whether to have renewed hope or not.
Despite President Joe Biden s campaign promises to welcome more refugees like Khawanda s parents and sisters, the president announced on Friday that he wouldn t raise the annual cap for refugees from Trump s historic low of 15,000.
Columbus Eritreans fear for lives of loved ones in Tigray dispatch.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dispatch.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.