Palace of Shame
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 15 September 2012
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kevin Connolly suggests that two deaths in the Middle East, eight hundred years and several hundred miles apart, offer lessons on the wisdom of foreign intervention in Syria. Alan Johnston's been to a building in Rome they call the Palace of Shame where hundreds of migrants live with time on their hands to consider the difficulties of finding a dream life in Europe. Some of the millions who left Zimbabwe as the country fell into violence and poverty have started to make their way back. But Jenny Cuffe's been discovering that not all are being welcomed home with open arms. Nick Thorpe -- knocked off his bike in Budapest -- has had an unexpected opportunity to take a close look at the Hungarian health service. And the economic crisis may have hit Ireland hard. But Kieran Cooke, in Blacksod Bay, County Mayo, has been learning that people are still determined to have some fun.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to a download from the BBC, this is from our own correspondent. |
| 0:04.6 | You can hear the version of the program we make for the BBC World Service by visiting our site |
| 0:08.9 | at BBC online. |
| 0:10.8 | But here's the latest edition broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and introduced by Kate Adi. |
| 0:16.0 | Today hopes of a bright new future in Europe fade away for the 800 residents of the building in Rome they call the Palace of Shame. the A close encounter with the Hungarian health service after our man's knocked off his bike in Budapest. |
| 0:37.0 | And as the economic crisis drags on in the west of Ireland, spirits are lifted at a cow dung festival. |
| 0:45.0 | The Tunisian foreign ministers been having talks in Italy |
| 0:49.0 | about the problems of illegal migration across the Mediterranean. |
| 0:53.0 | He's been to the island of Lampedusa, a favoured destination for refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe. |
| 1:00.0 | His visit comes less than a week after a boat loaded with migrants sank 12 miles off the island. |
| 1:06.0 | Some 50 people were rescued, another 50 are still missing. |
| 1:10.0 | In recent years, thousands of Africans have died trying to cross the Mediterranean, often in |
| 1:16.2 | overcrowded and unsee-worthy vessels. Thousands of others have been more successful, arriving |
| 1:21.6 | in Italy hoping to build new lives in Europe. But as |
| 1:25.1 | Alan Johnston's been learning in Rome, for many the Dolcevita's proved elusive. |
| 1:30.0 | As you listen to this, it's quite possible that there's one of those boats out there right now, |
| 1:37.0 | rising and falling in the swell. |
| 1:40.0 | And if there is, then the men and women on board will have watched North Africa's desert |
| 1:44.9 | coast disappear behind them. |
| 1:47.9 | They'll be hoping for something greener to emerge from the sea, the hills of Sicily perhaps, the promised land of Europe, |
| 1:55.6 | and a chance to change their lives. |
| 1:58.5 | They know that many migrants die attempting this crossing, their old and overcrowded boats sinking in rough seas. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.