With signs reading "Due Process for All" and "A Few Do Not Represent an Entire Community," Somali business owners, advocates and health care professionals gathered to push back against what they say has been months of scrutiny and harassment directed at Somali-owned businesses in central Ohio.
The July 27 event at the Ohio Statehouse was organized by the Minority Civil Rights Counsel. It followed months of fraud investigations and allegations involving businesses in the Somali community − including child care centers, trucking companies and most recently home health agencies. These allegations, advocates say, have fueled anti-immigrant rhetoric and unfairly cast suspicion on an entire community.
Zamzam Liban, a registered nurse working in home
health, and fellow members of her community said fraud is real, harmful and should be investigated. But, she said, Somali businesses are being affected regardless of any involvement or connection to alleged fraud.
After seeing what they describe as increasing harassment of Somali-owned businesses, community members said they felt compelled to publicly respond.
"This story is not separating the accused from everyone who shares their background, that distinction matters, in America, that’s supposed to be the whole point. The law holds individuals responsible − not communities, not ethnic groups," Liban said.
Columbus is home to 45,000 Somali people, as estimated by the Somali Community Project. That group includes nurses, home health aides and business owners; people who are also taxpayers and registered voters.
"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and our neighborhoods. Many Somali business owners feel they have been unfairly targeted and those concerns deserve to be taken seriously," said Kawther Musa, a Somali nonprofit leader and community relations commissioner for the city of Columbus.
Being a Somali-American business owner has become 'reason enough for scrutiny'
The group speaking July 27 wanted to address instances of individuals claiming to be investigating fraud showing up unannounced at Somali-owned businesses along Cleveland Avenue and Morse Road. Liban said these businesses often are not even health care providers, yet are being categorized as part of a health care fraud story.
"The pattern is clear, being Somali-American and owning a business has become reason enough for scrutiny," Liban said.
Musa says she feels supported at the city level, as Columbus City Council spoke on behalf of the minority community at the end of last year.
Liban said she hopes for a change to basing actions off reality, not rumors. She said if there is a problem with fraud, it should be addressed by state investigators, surveyors and legitimate individuals, not people with cameras claiming to have the credentials. She encouraged state investigators and surveyors to come out into the community.
"We support accountability and compliance with the law, but enforcement must be fair, consistent and applied equally to every business, regardless of who owns it," Musa said. "Our community is also concerned that these actions are occurring during an election season, raising questions about whether politics may be influencing decisions.
"We are calling for transparency, equal treatment and the opportunity to be heard."
Dispatch reporter Ella Diehl can be reached at ediehl@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus' Somali community rallies in response to fraud allegations
