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The Documentary Podcast

Polar Bear Kebabs

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.32.6K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2010

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Iranian Kazem Ariaiwand runs the most northerly kebab shop on the planet. This is his extraordinary story.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is a BBC podcast. You can get all our podcasts and our terms of use at BBCWorldService.com

0:07.3

Slash Podcasts.

0:10.2

The islands of Svalbard sit in the Arctic Ocean, midway between mainland Norway and the North

0:16.2

Pole. This harsh environment is the home of Kazam Ariavand, an Iranian man who, having

0:23.2

been refused asylum elsewhere, was attracted by Svalbard's open door immigration policy.

0:30.0

Now in the BBC World Service, Nick Mays visits Kazam, the owner of the world's most

0:35.9

northern kebab van.

0:45.4

This is very dark and very cold. You can't go out walking. You must just sit in your room

0:55.0

and thinking, dreaming maybe.

1:01.2

This is intercut beef kebab from cold. Very delicious.

1:10.6

This is very important for me. I find my freedom here in prison.

1:21.5

No, I have one problem. Before I have just one place that's as terrible, but no, this

1:35.8

place here is my home now. I love this place too.

1:46.9

This is Long Airbion's main shopping street. There are strings of lights. They look quite

1:50.7

Christmasy, which have been strung across. The shops are quite small. They look a bit

1:56.0

like Swiss chalets, or cuckoo clocks lined up along the side.

2:04.0

Is this a bit like an Arctic utopia? I think so. We have one small and very nice city.

2:11.9

We have about 2,000 people from 32 nationalities and they are very lucky people.

2:20.3

I like it.

2:28.6

I born 1959 in Tehran. I lived Tehran to Sweden and I try and take permission to stay

2:39.9

in Sweden, but nothing happened. I must leave Sweden to Norway. I stay in Norway in

2:47.1

a five and a half years with my family, but I can't take permission to stay in Norway.

...

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