Baghdad Lives: Hilba Bassem

Baghdad Lives

Hilba Bassem describes her daily life in Baghdad,  five years after the occupation

Iraq is now in its fifth year of occupation and there seems to be no end to the violence or bloodshed.

Sectarian revenge killings, between Iraqi Sunnis and Shias, are now claiming over one hundred lives a day.

The situation is so bad that millions have been forced to flee Iraq.

In the third of our films from the Baghdad film school we meet Hilba Bassem, a young woman trying to make sense of her violent, and often depressing surroundings.

Salween Dam

Myanmar’s Salween Dam: a source of both power and fear

Then People & Power visits Myanmar, or Burma as it is also known.

Civil war is raging between the country’s ruling generals and the Karen, one of the largest ethnic groups in the country.

Many have fled their land to camps along the Thai border, where the Salween River runs.

But here the Karen face another challenge: a massive dam-building project along the Salween, providing electricity to Thailand, Burma and China.

The dams are welcomed by many as a new source of power for Asia’s booming economies. But others fear for the Karen, and for their environment.

People & Power investigates.

Watch this episode of People & Power here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ4esn80hXI

This episode of People & Power aired from 23 May 2007

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