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From Our Own Correspondent

The Threat of Rising Waters in Bangladesh

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rivers and the sea have long-battered waterfront villages in Bangladesh, but this is a problem now made worse by climate change. Many people have had to flee several times, as land erodes and their homes crumble. Qasa Alom went to meet those forced to repeatedly restart their lives, and joins locals working on a solution to provide more permanent sanctuary. Morocco was once home to a thriving Jewish community, who began an exodus from the country in the 1950s as relations deteriorated between the Arab world and Israel. At its peak, there were several hundred thousand Jews living in the country, many in the coastal town of Essouira. With diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel now restored, some citizens of Essouira are reaching out to Israelis. Elizabeth Gowing found herself wondering whether tensions of the recent past really can be replaced by fonder memories of a one-time shared communal history. When the US and its allies overthrew Saddam Hussein, they promised a new era for the people of Iraq, providing democracy, freedom, and also the rule of law. Iraq does now have a functioning legal system, with police, lawyers, and courts to try cases. But when Shelly Kittleson bumped into an old acquaintance, she was reminded of how justice often works in practice, for those caught up in what is an overburdened system, fraught with delays, lack of training and sometimes corruption too. People from Ireland have often suffered from negative stereotypes, and sometimes from outright discrimination. However, there is one group which claims to be on the receiving end of particular contempt: Irish travellers. That prejudice is not just found abroad, but also in Ireland itself, they say, with reduced access to education, to healthcare and employment. Chris Page has been hearing stories of one man from an old Irish travelling family. Vladimir Putin has sought to justify his invasion of Ukraine by citing those in the country who speak Russian as their first language. Russian-speakers, Mr Putin claims, actually see themselves as Russian, rather than Ukrainian. It is a claim which has been rejected by Ukraine, and yet it potentially threatens the position of Russian-speakers elsewhere in Eastern Europe: is their loyalty to Moscow first, some ask? Latvia has around half a million Russian speakers, and relations are not always easy, discovers Beth Timmins.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts

0:05.2

Today, what's it like to be forced from your home not once, but several times?

0:10.2

As we explain, that's the plight of many people in Bangladesh living close to the waterline.

0:17.1

The Jewish community in Morocco began leaving al-Mas more than half a century ago.

0:22.7

Our correspondents there meet those trying to rebuild bridges.

0:27.8

Our chance of justice in Iraq, we hear about the trials where death sentences are handed

0:33.3

out, with evidence ignored, defendants left unheard.

0:38.4

We meet the Irish traveller, working to improve the fortunes of his family and of his

0:43.2

marginalized community.

0:45.8

And our correspondent in Latvia finds herself at a lively folk club, where she learns a few

0:51.1

traditional songs, and about current relations with the country's Russian-speaking population.

0:57.0

First, refugees have been all over the news this week, the proposal to dispatch those

1:03.3

who arrive in Britain for processing in Rwanda, and of course the millions driven from

1:08.4

their homes in Ukraine.

1:11.0

Not all displaced people are fleeing violence.

1:14.1

In Bangladesh it's flooding, which has left many homeless, an old problem, now made worse

1:19.5

it seems because of global warming, and the changing weather patterns which go with it.

1:25.0

It means some have had to move repeatedly.

1:28.4

Kasa Alom has been meeting those forced to rebuild their homes and their lives, and he

1:33.5

also visited a project which hopes to provide them with more permanent sanctuary.

1:38.7

Rima wears a red sari with a green pattern running through the fabric, for colours of the

1:43.5

Bangladesh flag.

...

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