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The Fifth Floor

Factual: Life Stories

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: Taken from their families: a colonial legacy

Documentaries

Luc Van Damme, Belgian taken from his Rwandan mother

20/09/2019 GMT

Taken from their families: a colonial legacy

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Taken from their families: a colonial legacy

Meeting the mixed race people taken from their African mothers in Belgium’s colonial era

Meeting the mixed race children taken from their African mothers in Belgium’s colonial era.

During Belgian colonial rule in what is today Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, about 20,000 mixed race children were removed from their families.  Prudent Nsengiyumva of BBC Great Lakes went to Belgium to meet some of those separated from their mothers as children.  

Thai YouTube wives
Many Thai women now living in Europe have found fame, and an income, posting videos of themselves cooking and eating traditional Thai food.  They’ve proved a hit back home in Thailand, and BBC Thai’s Issariya Praithongyaem is a fan.   

Greenland's "gold rush"
Greenland recently found itself in the headlines when President Donald Trump offered to buy it.  It’s just one sign of superpower interest now that the ice cap is melting, revealing new mineral opportunities and trade routes.  Matilda Welin of BBC Monitoring sheds light on what Greenlanders themselves make of the interest.   

Papua protests
The Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua have a fraught relationship with the rest of the country, and recent accusations of racism towards a group of Papuan students sparked protests and riots.  Ayomi Amindomi of BBC Indonesian went to Papua to meet some of the people affected. 

The tallest tree in the Amazon
A team of researchers recently measured the tallest tree ever discovered in the Brazilian rainforest, an astonishing 88 metres tall.  The journey took them to a remote part of the Amazon.  Fernanda Odilla told their story for BBC Brasil.

Image: Luc Van Damme (R) shows Prudent Nsengiyumva (L) childhood photos
Credit: BBC

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