Planet Mundus Planet Mundus

For this second part of our final #SlowNews podcast on migration and refugees, we look at the Burundian crisis and the refugee situation in the Great Lakes region due to this crisis.

Through the voice of two Burundian refugees and the expertise of humanitarian workers and researchers, we give an overview of the highly underreported political and humanitarian crisis in this East African country which lead to huge migration movements.
Since 2015, nearly 400,000 people have been fleeing to the neighboring countries, mainly Tanzania and Rwanda, or continued to Uganda.

How is the situation for a Burundian refugee in these countries? How do the receiving countries and humanitarian organizations handle the arrival of hundres of thousands refugees again? Is there any hope for the Burundian refugees to go back to their home country?

Tune in for answers and learn about this "forgotten case", Burundi.

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Our thanks go to our onterview partners (in order of appearance):

- Arsène Arakaza: former chairperson of the Burundian refugee community in Uganda;

- Joe-Philbert Karangwa (Twitter: @joe_karangwa): Burundian journalist in Rwandan exile;

- Eugene Sibomana: humanitarian professional working with Burundian refugees in Rwanda;

- Lucy Hovil (Twitter: @LucyHovil): senior research associate for the International Refugee Rights Initiative (@IntRefRights).

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Media & reading recommendations:

- Radio Peace FM (@RadioPeaceFM): refugee radio for Burundians in Rwanda; founder: Joe-Philbert Karangwa;

- Journal Plume du Réfugié: refugee newspaper for Burundians in Uganda; founder: Arsène Arakaza;

- Iwacu: independent Burundian press agency; reporting in Kirundi, French & English; online: https://www.iwacu-burundi.org/

- Lucy Hovil & Thijs Van Laer (2019). "The trouble with plans to send 116,000 Burundian refugees home," in The New Humanitarian. Online: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/

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Music:
With the kind authorization of the producer, we used original Burundian drummers' music from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gQcVmDIrtc&lc=z23uvh2jlpv0updql04t1aokg2ktmwfqd55ht5qkvs2zrk0h00410.1557329112845909. Thank you!

Migration continues to be a dominating topic across the world. For example in the upcoming European elections some say it is one of the deciding topics.
We take a closer look at it with two concluding #SlowNews episodes on migration to end our podcast-year.

Today, in Part I of our migration focus, we look at migration to and going from Denmark - a special case in the European context: Denmark decided not to follow the common guidelines that EU member states have agreed on.

To get some inside views, we spoke to Eva Singer, Director of the Asylum Department of the Danish Refugee Council. She will guide you with us through application procedures, forced return and the political ‘paradigm shift’ of 2015 in Denmark.

**"Migration Part II - A Burundian perspective within the Great Lakes Region" will be online in the beginning of next week.**

We are back with a different kind of #SlowNews this week!
A zoom in on 4 individual topics that have been covered in the news these past few weeks:
1) Trump’s decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights - a very controversial move;
2) Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Zimbabwe & Malawi - disaster preparedness in Sub-Sahara Africa;
3) #Kwibuka25 - a quarter century after the Genocide against the Tutsi 1994 in Rwanda;
4) Referendums - a debate in times of Brexit.

We have some weeks of Easter Break before us now - but stay tuned, we’ll be coming back with a special edition of #SlowNews as we currently work on an in-depth episode about refugees trying to return home! Thank you for listening.

This week we’ll provide you with some interesting insights into Nowruz - a huge festival that is celebrated in Iran and Central Asia. Also, we look on further religious and pagan traditions and how they are celebrated in different countries.

In mid-February this year, India and Pakistan again picked up on their long-standing conflict over the most heavily militarized part of the world – Kashmir. Can we best understand the recent events as a mere game of egos, or should we instead interpret them in light of India’s upcoming elections? Our guest journalists in the studio, Tamkinat from Pakistan and Hannah from India, debate what makes Kashmir the bone of contention and discuss its geopolitical and geo-economic relevance, as well as where China stands on the issue. We begin slowly, by contextualizing the conflict in history and questioning how British colonial rule has laid the ground for Pakistan’s and India’s decade-long “sibling rivalry”. We wrap up by questioning why territorial disputes are such a non-negotiable for states today.

This planet mundus show focusses on one of the most essential parts in life - food.
We discuss danish dishes, the sustainable supermarket WeFood and spill the tea on where to find the best food in Aarhus for a students on a budget.