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From Our Own Correspondent

Snow and Sorrow: Winter in a Lebanon Refugee Camp

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Lebanon hosts more than a million Syrian refugees, mostly living in very basic accommodation. Now the country has been hit by freakishly cold weather, while in the midst of an economic crisis. That has left refugees exposed to the elements, with families unable to cook, children falling ill, and little sign of help on its way. Leila Molana-Allen found many in despair. Just as millions suffer from freezing cold under Lebanon’s snowfall, it is the lack of snow which some fear. Those making a living from winter sports are seeing ski seasons shorten, as climate change speeds up the rate at which mountain snow is melting. Yet when Polina Bachlackova went to a ski resort in France, she found some locals sceptical about whether humans were the cause of a changing climate, and rejecting the suggestion that urgent action is needed to tackle it. China has been generous to Sri Lanka lately, paying for roads, other transport infrastructure, and retail developments. Some of these have been outright gifts, some were funded by loans, but others were more of a swap, provided in return for access to land. One of the biggest developments is in the harbour area of Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, where a huge retail, residential, and business area is under way. Anbarasan Ehirajan was given a tour, and found himself asking whether it was what the people of Sri Lanka really needed. Just across the water from Sri Lanka, India has been holding two days of national mourning for the singer, Lata Mangeshkar. Described as the "Nightingale of Bollywood," hers was the voice on the soundtrack in hundreds of Indian musicals. The country's President said her death was heart-breaking, while the Prime Minister said she left a void in the nation. Rajini Vaidyanathan is among those feeling the loss. Italy is just recovering from the annual “Sanremo Festival,” its annual marathon song contest. Often compared to the Eurovision song contest, San Remo is famous for kitsch performances, which millions of Italians tune into. Dany Mitzman joined in the fun.

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:05.4

Good morning.

0:06.4

What's it like to see your livelihood threatened by climate change?

0:10.5

Today we hear from the French mountains where many face this prospect, yet attitudes are

0:15.9

not perhaps what you might think.

0:18.9

As China lavishes gifts on Sri Lanka, we ask whether their perhaps might be a catch.

0:26.0

India has held two days of national mourning for a veteran singer who died this week,

0:31.1

loved by hundreds of millions, or correspondent, counts herself among them.

0:36.5

And the song Contest, which has had millions of Italians gripped, despite being dismissed

0:41.6

by summers, nothing more than a festival of kitsch.

0:45.0

First, there's been a lot of talk this past week about the rising cost of gas, with warnings

0:50.9

about how expensive it may soon be to heat our homes.

0:55.2

But for some, gas and heating are simply not available, expensive or otherwise.

1:01.1

In Lebanon, for example, there are more than a million Syrian refugees living in the

1:06.1

bleakest of accommodation.

1:09.0

Conditions were bad enough already, but now the country's been hit by a huge downfall

1:13.8

of snow, with temperatures plummeting to levels not seen in decades.

1:19.6

Lebanon's economy is itself in a dire state, so this precious little spare cash to help

1:25.0

those who fled there.

1:27.4

Leyla Malana Allen lives in the Lebanese capital Beirut, and has been following the lives

1:32.4

of those who fled the fighting in Syria only to face destitution.

1:37.6

A fresh coat of thick white snow has covered the mountains overnight.

...

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