EU Views: Isabel Schayani
Name: Isabel Schayani
Nationality: German
Occupation(s): Editor for WDR (Westdeutschen Rundfunk) and international news presenter for the program “Weltspiegel” for ARD, one of Germany’s leading national broadcasters.
Connection to Europe: She has overseen the WDR network’s WDRforyou web and social media news channel for refugees arriving in Germany since December 2015.
Date of interview: April 3, 2017
In this episode, Isabel Schayani explained how she transformed a Facebook page into a platform for communicating directly with migrants, describing how her WDR project offers news, education, and entertainment for refugees entering Germany. The discussion moved toward a conversation about the situation facing asylum-seekers in Europe, as Schayani condemned the treatment of refugees in Eastern Europe and how she believes journalists are in the unique position to teach Europeans to avoid xenophobic assumptions and help migrants orient themselves once settled in the EU. She ended by emphasizing the global dimension of migration in the 21st century and the need for Europeans to provide adequate information about legal channels of entry to refugees trapped on the periphery of the EU.