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From Our Own Correspondent

The Myanmar soldiers refusing to fight

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kate Adie introduces stories from Myanmar's civil war, Iran, Moldova, Denmark and South Georgia. Since the military overthrow of the democratically elected government in Myanmar in 2021, the country has slid into civil war. When initial, peaceful demonstrations against the military coup failed, civilians took up arms. Now, some of the soldiers they are fighting are deciding to defect - refusing to fight against their own people. Many have fled to Thailand, where Rebecca Henschke spoke to them. When an Iranian former political prisoner goes missing, who should his family turn to for help? The daughter of Ebrahim Babie was rightly reluctant to contact the Iranian authorities who had targeted her father, and instead she called the BBC's Persian Service. Jiyar Gol tells the story of his search for a missing dissident. Moldova shares a large border with its much larger neighbour Ukraine, and since Russia's invasion, Moldovans have been on edge. Disinformation about the war have widened the unease between pro-western and pro-Russian factions in the country. But Moldova's president has big plans for a future in the EU, and was boosted by a recent European summit held in the capital, Chisinau. Stephen McGrath reports. Hidden in a forest in northern Jutland, nearly 250 miles from Copenhagen, the sprawling REGAN Vest complex was built at the height of the Cold War. This huge nuclear bunker is where the Danish government and queen would have sheltered in the event of nuclear attack. Adrienne Murray paid a recent and discovered a remarkable time capsule that continues to resonate. The island of South Georgia, eight hundred miles north of Antarctica, was plundered by Antarctic explorers, with its whales, seals and penguins killed for their oils, furs and meat. But now the island lies within a vast nature reserve, and on a recent visit Mark Stratton found an island restored. Producer: Claire Bowes Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts

0:05.0

Today, when a leading Iranian dissident goes missing, who do his family call for help?

0:11.1

A journalist from the BBC's Persian Service tells us how he tried to unravel the mystery.

0:18.2

In Moldova, torn between the East and West since independence in the 90s, we meet those

0:24.3

who fear their country will be Russia's next target after Ukraine.

0:29.5

We step inside Denmark's vast nuclear bunker, built more than half a century ago in case

0:35.8

of World War III, and tore the VIP room intended for the Danish Queen.

0:42.5

And a visit to that rarest of treasures and ecosystem in recovery.

0:48.1

Cute fur seals, awe-inspiring humpback whales, and a million smelly penguins, are thriving

0:55.0

once more on the island of South Georgia.

0:58.4

But first of Myanmar, it's more than two years since the government was overthrown in

1:03.7

a military coup, and its leader, Anxansu Chi, arrested.

1:08.4

The country had enjoyed just a decade of democratic government, following half a century

1:13.8

of oppressive military rule.

1:16.3

But those years of democracy have left their mark, it seems, as nationwide demonstrations

1:21.6

following the coup eventually gave way to armed uprisings across the country, with civilians

1:27.8

fighting back against the generals, it's now a civil war, but more and more soldiers

1:33.7

are defecting and choosing not to fight against their own people.

1:38.5

Rebecca Hinchki has been across the border to Thailand to meet some of them.

1:43.5

He's 22, but his acne marks skin and sweet, slightly cheeky smile make him look much younger.

1:50.8

He's lying on a bed, paralyzed from the waist down.

1:55.0

His mother hovers nearby, moving his legs, passing him water or his phone, when her son

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