Get Information to Migrants and Refugees in Italy

Though the temperatures are beginning to drop in Ventimiglia, the Yalla Yalla web radio programming continues without delay or interruption. Now more than ever, the voices of the migrants need to be heard and their needs addressed. The team continues to conduct interviews with various migrants to understand their feelings about Europe, the reception system and the borders. Though they received negative news that they will not be able to set up a network in the Red Cross Camp because the Prefecture declined, the team will continue insisting that a network in the camp is necessary and urgent.

“People have to know why we are crossing the sea and how we are living now” said one of the Yalla Yalla beneficiaries, discussing the importance of communicating with families and friends back in their home country.

To make the content of the programming more engaging, the team plans to add in games during the broadcasts about Italy and the European Union. The games will allow the migrants to learn more about their basic rights and migration laws in the region in a more entertaining fashion.

The weather conditions in Ventimiglia have begun to worry the team as temperatures can reach freezing during the night and there are around 200 people that temporarily residing under the bridge. The team decided to carry out a survey among the migrants to get feedback on what else they need from the web radio service. The responses from the survey showed that all the migrants camped under the bridge know of the service; the access to internet and to music are the most appreciated services of the web radio; and that there is a need for more entertainment on the web radio to keep spirits up in these hard times. Despite external assumptions, the migrants made it clear in these surveys that what they want most right now is community and recreation.

“Radio- it’s a good way to talk and express ourselves!”