World Focus from Brussels

The war in Syria has been going on for more than ten years, tearing the nation and the country apart. I speak with Bassel Abou Fakher, a musician in Belgium,  one of the millions of refugees that have fled Syria because of the war. This is a story about courage and building a new life in a new country. Bassel also tells me how he rescued his beloved dog, Stella, with the help of some good people. You can  read that beautiful story in the children's book "Saving Stella." 

Russia’s massive military build-up close to the Eastern border of Ukraine and in occupied Crimea has alarmed NATO and prompted Allies to declare their unwavering support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says a path toward NATO membership is the only way to end the war in the Donbass region where Russia has backed separatist forces since 2014. Russia on the other hand claims the military build-up is a response to so called “ threats” from NATO. I spoke with Liubov Tsybulska  in Kyiv, an expert on hybrid warfare and strategic communications about Russia’s tactics, including disinformation, and how Ukraine and Western Allies need to stand firm when faced with aggression from Russia. 

China faces increasing international pressure over its treatment of the mostly Muslim Uighur population in the north-western region of Xinjiang. More than one million Uighurs and other Muslims, including ethnic Kazakhs and Uzbeks, are in government  run detention camps, according to reports by human rights groups, international media and many others. Outside of the camps the eleven million Uighurs living in Xinjiang have continued to suffer from a decades-long crackdown by Chinese authorities Parliamentarians sitting in Belgium’s Chamber of Representatives have now submitted a resolution calling for the Belgian government to declare the persecution of the Uighurs a ‘genocide’ On Monday 29 of March I spoke with Samuel Cogolati,  an MP from the Ecolo-Green Party and a co-sponsor of the resolution. He has been sanctioned by the Chinese government which rejects that a genocide is being committed against the Uighurs, calling that and other accusations “the lies of the century.” Samuel Cogolati thinks otherwise and wants the international community to take a real stand against China on the issue of human rights.

Five years ago on the morning of 22 March 2016, terrorists attacked Brussels, killing 32 people, at Zaventem airport and the Maelbeek metro station, in the heart of Brussels. I speak to Thomas Renard, an expert on terrorism at the Egmont Royal Institute of International Relations, on how the threat of terrorism has evolved in Belgium and in Europe since the attacks, how the EU is taking on a bigger role in countering terrorism and what to expect when ten defendants stand trial in Brussels later this year for their roles in the 22 March attacks.