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Public access channel proposed to help refugees and immigrants

Posted at 6:32 PM, Apr 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-19 18:32:09-04

Buffalo Common Council Member Rasheed Wyatt proposed a public access channel for refugees and immigrants. The channel would offer information and services in different languages. 

"With the growing population in the City of Buffalo and some of the issues that we have interacting with that population, I think we need additional layers to provide information to them," said Wyatt. 

From Arabic, Turkish, French, to Hindi: those are just some of the 80 languages spoken in Buffalo.

"Sometimes when I look at the news I don't understand everything, but if it would be in my language it would be easier," said Nadin Yousef, who's from Iraq, and moved to Buffalo about five years ago.

Wyatt says the City would work with the immigrant and refugee communities to train them on how to develop shows in their own language. He says this would be helpful for different issues, including how to deal with police.

"They could receive information in their dialect, to be able to adapt and maneuver through the City and through this area," said Wyatt.

The channel is still in the early stages, but Wyatt says the Department of Telecommunications has already reached out to the immigrant community so that they're ready when the channel gets started.