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From Our Own Correspondent: A new life in Iraq

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A new life in Iraq

18/09/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, A new life in Iraq

Iranians fleeing Iran search for a new life in Iraq, plus stories from Canada and Hungary

The search for a new life: Iranian refugees in Iraq, the politics of climate change in Canada, the Pope meets Hungary’s Prime Minister and a night walk in Costa Rica.

Pascale Harter introduces analysis, reportage and personal reflections from correspondents around the world.

This week, the search for a new life in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The region is more stable and prosperous than the rest of the country.  It is increasingly an attraction for people fleeing from neighbouring Iran. Iranians are now coming in greater numbers since the election of a hard-line president.  They are searching for work and hoping to escape rocketing food prices and shortages at home, as Lizzie Porter reports.

On Monday Canadians go to the polls after a short campaign. The snap election was called by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, hoping to secure a majority in the House of Commons. Mr Trudeau was counting on an electoral boost from his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. But as Jatinder Sidhu in Vancouver has heard, other issues are also on the agenda. 

Inclusion and fraternity were the messages spread by Pope Francis on his visit to Hungary this week. While visiting, the Pope met Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban – known for his populist politics and anti-immigration stance. It had been rumoured earlier in the summer that the meeting might not happen at all, as some leading journalists close to the Hungarian Prime Minister accused the Pope of “anti-Christian behaviour”. As Nick Thorpe reports from Budapest, the meeting with Viktor Orban was brief and there wasn’t much talking.

The Central American country of Costa Rica gets a lot of good press – and name recognition – for its efforts to preserve nature. It’s also a hotspot for eco-tourists; from bird spotters to those who want to wander into a rain forest. But not everything about Costa Rica’s government is green – and not all its life forms are friendly. Michelle Jana Chan went for a night walk which shed light on all sorts of wonders and horrors too.

Presenter: Pascale Harter
Producer: Bethan Head

(Image: A mural of apparently armed fighters known as ‘Peshmerga’ at a training camp belonging to the Kurdistan Democratic Party Iran, an Iranian Kurdish opposition group, outside the town of Koya, Iraqi Kurdistan, August 2021. Credit: Lizzie Porter)

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