France Welcomes Ukrainians but Migrants from Africa and the Mid-East Sleep on the Streets
More than 4 million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russian troops invaded on February 24. Human Rights campaigners have praised the French government for the speed with which it set up a reception center with provisions for shelter, food and healthcare. But they wonder why the authorities haven’t extended the same warm welcome to asylum-seekers from across Africa and... Read More
Cops are in Crisis. In this History of Policing in North America, France and Britain, we find out why
Over the past year, public anger over police violence has led to calls for de-funding or abolition of police forces. Some even want to police their own communities — which it turns out, is precisely how policing began. Read More Read More
Rethinking the Role of Police
Law enforcement scholar David Bayley begins his book, Police for the Future, with what he calls one of the best-kept secrets of modern life: “The police do not prevent crime.” He points to US studies that show increases in police numbers had virtually no impact on crime rates, something he also observed in Australia, Britain and Canada. In this documentary we rethink... Read More
Small Countries to Suffer in Wild West World Economy
The World Trade Organization is charged with preventing small trade disputes from erupting into full-scale economic warfare. In what may seem a minor administrative inconvenience, it has been dealt a near-fatal blow. The US government has blocked the WTO from hiring more members – judges who rule on trade complaints – effectively paralyzing the WTO’s trade dispute... Read More
Canada’s Slavery Secret
It’s common knowledge that runaway slaves found refuge in Canada. But few know that Africans and Indigenous peoples were bought, sold and exploited, right here, too. I investigate why slavery was allowed to continue for some 200 years, and yet be one of the least talked about aspects of our history. Part I: The whitewashing of Canadian History Part One aired on CBC... Read More
THE INVISIBLE PIRATES
Kenyan environmental groups and local fishermen are finding dead fish washed ashore, habitats damaged and equipment destroyed. So-called ‘Phantom ships’ have been entering into East African countries’ territorial waters unannounced, and leaving with more than they declare. Kenyan authorities have long lacked the means to do much about illegal fishing, but they hope a series... Read More
FISHERMEN TRY to FLEE FORCED LABOUR
Cape Town, one of Africa’s busiest ports, receives all kinds of foreign vessels every day – from cargo ships to fishing boats. Increasingly, the small team that takes care of seafarers is discovering serious human rights abuses. Fishermen – mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines, complain of insufficient food and water; of being forced to work up to 22-hour... Read More
RADICAL WAY to HOUSE the HOMELESS
In a brazen move to help homeless families endure the cold winter, activists have taken over empty Paris office buildings and moved dozens of people in. Property-owners are alarmed. But the Socialist government’s response was surprising. At first. Read More Read More
DRAFTED by a DICTATOR
Chile’s late dictator Augusto Pinochet took power in a violent coup d’état in 1973. For some, it is hard to believe that the men who were conscripted to carry out his often bloody orders are now campaigning for compensation, 40 years on. They say they were forced to commit heinous acts, from which some have never managed to recover. They too, were victims of Chile’s... Read More
Paying for Tradition
A new bill working its way through South Africa’s parliament could have major consequences for singers, story-tellers and artists of all kinds. Anyone wanting to use traditional songs or stories, will have to ask permission. And they’ll have to pay. Traditional communities in South Africa see this as a chance to get recognition – and compensation – for the... Read More
