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From Our Own Correspondent: Ukraine and Morocco

Ukraine and Morocco

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Ukraine and Morocco

Owen Bennett Jones presents personal insights from the BBC's John Sweeney and Nora Fakim.

Owen Bennett Jones presents insights from BBC correspondents abroad. John Sweeney explores memories of Ukraine's devastating 1930s famine; Nora Fakim reflects on her work and her UK-Moroccan heritage.

Owen Bennett Jones presents insights, analysis and wit from BBC correspondents around the world. In this edition, John Sweeney explores memories of Ukraine's devastating 1930s famine; Nora Fakim reflects on how her reporting work has been enriched by her UK-Moroccan heritage.

A human catastrophe - and the big lie which followed

One of the most devastating famines of the 20th Century happened in Ukraine in the 1930s. Millions died - but they were uncounted millions, as the Stalinist regime didn't want to acknowledge the terrible consequences of its decisions. 

When whole communities or even whole nations suffer politically-driven mass death - as happened in Nazi Germany, Cambodia or Rwanda – then it's generally accepted that there is a duty for survivors and subsequent generations to tell their story. But sometimes that doesn't happen, as John Sweeney learned on a journey through eastern Ukraine.

Both insider and outsider   

Globalisation is generally discussed in the context of economics, with debates between those who favour ever-cheaper goods and those who complain of the exploitation of poorer countries. But there's another aspect to the process – the increasing numbers of people who now have different, multifaceted identities - far beyond one village, one city or one nation state.

Nora Fakim, the BBC's correspondent in Morocco, has been contemplating the issue: where is she 'really' from? And has her mixed heritage ended up enriching her reporting work?

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