The Stream

After ISIL: What is life like in Mosul?

We discuss the one-year anniversary of ISIL’s defeat, Denmark’s laws for ‘immigrant ghettos’, and the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis.

In this episode, The Stream speaks with journalists from the around world to explore:

Remember the Rohingya? 
Al Jazeera Senior Correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom joins us live from Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar to talk about the ongoing – and under-reported – Rohingya refugee crisis. Tens of thousands of people are threatened by flooding and monsoon rains, which are expected to damage refugee camps and increase the potential for waterborne diseases such as cholera. Hundreds of shelters and latrines have collapsed or been destroyed, and the UN estimates that half of the 200,000 people in the camps are children.

Approximately 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 2017, and although both nations agreed on a plan to repatriate refugees, less than 200 have been resettled since November. Aid groups, including the UN refugee agency, are now racing to get relief to those who could be affected by the flood waters.

Denmark’s “ghetto” controversy
New laws in Denmark are to subject children from low-income, primarily Muslim, communities to mandatory training in “Danish values.” The new policy will require toddlers to receive weekly instruction in Danish religious and cultural norms. Proponents say the laws will not only help children better integrate into Danish society, but tackle high crime rates and unemployment in “parallel communities” of uneducated immigrants from “non-Western countries.”

“To me this is about, no matter who lives in these areas and who they believe in, they have to profess to the values required to have a good life in Denmark,” justice minister Soren Pape Poulsen has said.

But critics say the rhetoric used by several politicians to describe people living in the so-called “ghettos” recalls Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jews prior to World War II.

“We call them ‘ghetto children, ghetto parents,’ it’s so crazy. It is becoming a mainstream word, which is so dangerous”, Social Democrat MP Yildiz Akdogan told the New York Times. “People who know a little about history, our European not-so-nice period, we know what the word ‘ghetto’ is associated with.”

 

Mosul, one year later
It’s been almost one year since Iraqi government forces ended ISIL’s occupation of Mosul. The battle for Iraq’s second-biggest city left it in ruins and forced hundreds of  thousands of civilians from their homes. As residents move back to rebuild lives and recover bodies from the rubble, ISIL is now reportedly stepping up efforts to regain position in the historic city. We’ll look at how Mosul has changed since ISIL’s defeat, what’s still necessary to secure it, and whether ISIL can make a comeback.

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:

Mohammed Jamjoom @MIJamjoom
Senior Correspondent, Al Jazeera

Ali Albaroodi @AliBaroodi
Professor of English, University of Mosul
500px.com/alialbaroodi2000

Mikkel Andersson @AnderssonMikkel
Journalist, Berlingske

Read more:
Monsoon season threatens Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh – Al Jazeera
In Denmark, Harsh New Laws for Immigrant ‘Ghettos’ – New York Times
Present Status and Possible Future of Post-ISIS Mosul? – Mosul Eye

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