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The Fifth Floor

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Global stories from the BBC’s 40 Language Services, with Faranak Amidi

Faranak Amidi presents global stories from the Fifth Floor, home to the BBC’s 40 Language Services.

Faranak Amidi presents global stories from the Fifth Floor, home to the BBC’s 40 Language Services

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The Fifth Floor: Closing Kenya's Dadaab Refugee Camp

Documentaries

Dadaab Refugee Camp, North of Nairobi, Kenya

10/06/2016 GMT

Closing Kenya's Dadaab Refugee Camp

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Closing Kenya's Dadaab Refugee Camp

What it means to close Dadaab, home to nearly 350,000 refugees

Dadaab refugee camp; lapis lazuli; the musical identity of Nepal; BBC Persian in China; and a diplomatic rickshaw ride in Delhi.  With David Amanor.

Following the recent announcement by the Kenyan government that it plans to close the massive Dadaab refugee camp this November, Bashkas Jugsodaay goes back to the moment in 1991 when the first Somalis arrived. Bashkas reports for BBC Africa from nearby Garissa, and he's followed the lives of the refugees through three generations. He shares insights into camp life, and explains what its closure would mean to residents and Kenyans.

Lapis Lazuli 
The brilliant blue precious gemstone, lapis lazuli, has been prized for millennia, and the best quality stones come almost exclusively from Afghanistan.  A report this week highlighted the extent to which armed groups, including the Taliban, are using lapis to fund their operations, but what does the gemstone mean to ordinary Afghans?  Over to BBC Afghan with Hameed Shuja and Najiba Feroz.

Nepal Hear My Country  
Think of your country, think of a song, close your eyes and marry the two. It's our much loved feature Hear My Country, and this week the task goes to our journalists at the foothills of the Himalayas. So what songs can BBC Nepali come up with to express their country's cultural identity, maybe we might also learn something about the way music styles travel around the globe.  Sewa Bhattarai, Binita Dahal and Surendra Phuyal of BBC Nepali take up the challenge.

BBC Persian in China
Feranak Amidi of BBC Persian is fascinated by China.  Its influence over world affairs is growing, and politically and economically China and Iran have been very close over the past decades because of sanctions. However, a lot of myths about China grew up because Iranians couldn't travel there.  So Feranak was very excited to visit the country and meet the people, and see for herself what modern China is like.

Riding a rickshaw with the Mexican ambassador 
The Mexican ambassador to India has started using a humble auto rickshaw instead of a car. Her aim is to promote public transport and highlight air pollution in Delhi. BBC Urdu's Suhail Haleem has buckled up for a journey with the ambassador, hoping to navigate the traffic and the pollution that comes with it in a diplomatic fashion.

And Fifi Haroon's pick of weird and wonderful stories from the world wide web.

Photo: Dadaab Refugee Camp, North of Nairobi, Kenya.
Credit: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images.

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