This is bbc news, the headlines. The United Nations has issued a stark warning that after five years of conflict, its aid agencies dont have the resources they need to fight the looming threat of famine in war torn yemen. The country is also struggling with a surge in suspected covid 19 deaths. The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has passed 3 million, with about 130,000 american fatalities. The milestone comes with the Trump Administration facing criticism for its handling of the outbreak. The white house has defended the president s approach to the pandemic, saying the latest wave appears to be flattening out. 5 Million People in australias second largest city, melbourne, have been ordered to stay at home for six weeks after a major spike in Coronavirus Infections. Doctors say australians will have to get used to the new normal of on off lockdowns as fresh clusters emerge and subside. Now on bbc news, coronavirus
your stories. Philippa thomas hears from people around the world about their extraordinary experiences during the pandemic and how covid 19 has changed their lives, including coverage of verbal abuse that some people have been subjected to. And a warning this programme contains strong language. Welcome to coronavirus your stories, a programme about how covid 19 is changing lives around the world. I am Philippa Thomas. And this week, were looking at the virus and prejudice. The way in which fears around the coronavirus have stoked up prejudices around race, sex and strangers. Later, we
will hear from the new york photographer making portraits of Asian Americans who face public abuse over covid 19. A different sort of artist tells me from seoul in south korea tells me how much harder it is to be openly homosexual after a cluster of 130 infections began ina after a cluster of 130 infections began in a gay nightclub. But we will start on the greek island of lesbos which houses tens of thousands of the migrants who crossed the mediterranean to try to live in europe. For years, theyve tried to find some safety, shelter and support in refugee camps. 0ne and support in refugee camps. One of the volunteers working on lesbos with the ngo lesbos solidarity is effie latsudi, whos w011 solidarity is effie latsudi, whos won an award from the United Nations for her work. She is telling me about how coronavirus has impacted her corner of the european migrant crisis. When corona was spreading in
europe, but in lesbos, we didnt have yet to lockdown. It was a black page for the history of the island, when we had so many attacks against solidarity, people, refugees, that they were not allowed to enter the camps because of the fear, there was stigmatisation and segregation of refugees already. So you are already describing an atmosphere of fear and incidence of violence and then coronavirus arrives on the island. What was that like . Exactly, we already have this fear and levels of attacks of violence on all of us. They cannot exit the camp because of this fear already and at the same time, we have the lockdown of the
coronavirus which is actually putting the refugees more slide. The message for the greek people was stay home, keep safe. Wash your hands. Keep social distancing. But for refugees, this was impossible. We had people that were living in conditions that they didnt have access to clean water and toilets. They were living, thousands in a camp without a home. And without Global Medical support. Already, we have this huge discrimination towards these people and the fear that they have already about the future of what will happen to them in greece was increasing with
covid 19 because they didnt have any support. 0n covid 19 because they didnt have any support. On top of everything, many of the helpers, volunteers and organisations, they left moria because of the attacks and the fear of the attacks. People were left abandoned they are. So effie lat, you stayed, you and your colleagues. What have you been able to do to help children, the miners, left in the camps . Unfortunately, working in this context, we have been facing crisis all the time so its not the first crisis. We decided to get more unaccompanied children out of moria to protect them if we can, to prepare a safe space for them. We worked a lot in Psychosocial Support and activities so the kids are calm and activities so the kids are calm and they started to kind of heal from the trauma of moria and the
conditions that theyd been through all these months. Effie, telus, what happened . Did covid 19 spread through the camps or is it under control . What is the situation . Actually, we dont have testing in all these months, we dont have the real numbers of cases. But actually, the only real measures in the camp was the lockdown, keeping people in the camp, keeping them away from society. Definitely its clear that in lesbos, covid 19 was not spread through the population of refugees and they suffered more because they are still in block down in the camps and in quarantine areas but covid 19
came in lesbos through greek people all that they were travelling and we had own and we had only one death. Id also like to ask you, effie, about fear of violence or fear of the virus that you feel. Whats it been like for you under all these extra stresses . The fear that i felt during the racist attacks on the island was much bigger than the covid 19 fear. A crisis can be an opportunity to find new solutions to support each other, to create together safe spaces for us. To create together safe spaces for us. And a safe future for this planet. Effie latsoudi on the island of lesbos in greece. Next we go to south korea where its never been easy to be openly gay its become that much tougher since a cluster of
130 viral infections was traced back toa 130 viral infections was traced back to a gay nightclub in seoul. 0ne 130 viral infections was traced back to a gay nightclub in seoul. One man who is able to talk openly about the impact of that incident is performing artist heezy yang. Impact of that incident is performing artist heezy yanglj impact of that incident is performing artist heezy yang. I was born and raised in seoul and i would say i am born and raised in seoul and i would sayiama born and raised in seoul and i would say i am a queer artist and activist here in south korea. I make all kinds of yard art using many different media and perform as a drag queen and i protest with my art and with my drag. So when the coronavirus came to seoul, one of the clusters of infections, about 130 cases, i think, started at a gay nightclub. Tell us what that did, that that becoming public . Basically, all the gay clubs and bars in the area were affected and they went through a very tough time
as korean media and lots of conservative groups and parties and conservative groups and parties and conservative people in general blamed the gaze or lgbt people, such a minority as a whole, for the spread of covid 19. A minority as a whole, for the spread of covid19. Telus a little bit more about the neighbourhood. It sounds as if one of the places where people could be themselves. 0h sounds as if one of the places where people could be themselves. Oh no hill is the area were lots of gay bars and clubs are homo hill. Having a space like this is very important for lgbt people in korea because compared to a lot of western countries, korea is a very conservative society where conservative society where conservative christianity is the biggest religion so people cannot be
freely be themselves when they are with theirfamily freely be themselves when they are with their family or friends or collea g u es with their family or friends or colleagues so that is why they need to sometimes go out and meet people who are in the same position or share similar stories so it is very vital for lgbt cue people to have these spaces. When this outbreak became public, the south korean government wants to track and trace eve ryo ne government wants to track and trace everyone who is infected, to try and stop the virus spreading. Why was that a real problem in itaewon . So, these clubs and bars actually took their visitors and customers names and cellphone numbers and where they live. A lot of the people didnt write their information correct the because the fear of being outed
because the fear of being outed because once they are tracked down and get tested, and if the results we re and get tested, and if the results were positive, then the information will be revealed on the internet, without the name butjust enough information for people to guess who these people are. I can see the struggle for you here because you are talking about risk, youre talking about a risk to Public Health if people dont give their names and people arent traced but you are all also talking about a risk of being outed. Are you feeling a real struggle there or do some people have a real struggle with this . Being outed and proud activists and artists, there are a lot of friends of mine, even artists 01 lot of friends of mine, even artists or activists or lg bt lot of friends of mine, even artists or activists or lgbt q organisations, many of them are not
out and they still have to lie about their sexuality or Sexual Orientation to the family, their pa rents. Orientation to the family, their parents. Heezy yang, before coronavirus, do you think things we re coronavirus, do you think things were getting easier when you are talking about pride gatherings and parades in seoul, for example, was that possible, are those gatherings getting bigger before the virus . M general, things seemed to be going well and going towards the right direction because seoul pride had been going to the festival for about ten yea rs been going to the festival for about ten years now and the first time i went there, the size of it was approximately 2000 or 3000 people but last year, they had over 120,000 people so the size of it has become really big and there have been more
video coverage about lgbtq people in general and mainstream people even included, not like very out loud but subtly, they are included more queer and lgbt subtly, they are included more queer and lgbt lgbtq little subtly, they are included more queer and lgbt lgbtq little by little so and lgbt lgbtq little by little so things seem to be going to the right direction but this one outbreak happened in people had to face, they had to face the fact that things werent actually is good as they seemed or they expect there have always been problem. Heezy yang in south korea. You are watching coronavirus your stories. Iam Philippa Thomas and we are looking this week at virus and edges. Next, a young photographer in new york city sees a rise in abuse directed
at Asian American basis. |j city sees a rise in abuse directed at asianamerican basis. I was waiting in line at a Grocery Store a day after the shelter in place order was enacted in new york city and there were clear guidelines in new york city but a man behind me was hovering behind me to the point where i could almost feel his breath and he was so close and he didnt have a mask on. I completely asked him some space and he said what did you say to me, chink . Any cut in front of me. I was focusing on an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans since tom had made his first reference to a chinese virus before that incident that i wa nted virus before that incident that i wanted to believe my experience was kind ofan wanted to believe my experience was kind of an isolated incident since i live in such a racially and culturally diverse city like new york city. So haruka, that happened to you and you start asking around and realise this isnt an isolated incident . Right, so i started to realise that there was a pattern of
these incidents and i started to do some research, i found these incidents and i started to do some research, ifound several facebook groups where Asian Americans were facebook groups where asian america ns were self supporting incidents of racial aggression via text and video and i came across advocacy organisations that compiled advocacy organisations that compiled a virtual map of aggravated incident reports from Asian Americans who had experienced racial aggressions across the us and this virtual map already included up to 1000 cases by the time i was conducting the research but that number currently surpasses 1500 and interestingly enough, the nypd hate crimes statistics summary at this point included only one report of hate crime towards asians at this point, so crime towards asians at this point, so as you can imagine the numbers werent really adding up and i was shocked to hear the statistics, to be honest. Underreporting has always been an ongoing issue in our community but i also felt like bringing public attention to this issue, our experiences would be
confined to these on line spaces are never be taken seriously unless we do the documenting ourselves. So lets look at some of the documenting. I know youve got a whole series of case studies. If we we ta ke whole series of case studies. If we we take a couple, justin, for example, tell me his story. Yes, so justin is a registered nurse who was harassed by a man on his way home on the subway, and the man made a reference to chinks spreading all this sickness, and telling him to go back to his country. It was particularly heartbreaking about justins story was that this is one of many incidents that he had experienced, you know, while commuting daily to the hospital where he worked as a nurse. So essentially he is, you know, being exposed to all of this harassment
while he is inscribed on public transportation, right . And ironicallyjustin also had experienced more harassment than perhaps the rest of us because he had made the conscientious choice to wa ke had made the conscientious choice to wake up every morning during this pandemic and to protect his community out on the front lines as an essential worker. And i think with other cases, there are examples of different kinds of prejudice or discrimination kind of layering themselves on top of one another. Ida chen, for example. Right, so ida chens story actually resonated with me the most. She was heckled by a man who said something to the effect ofa man who said something to the effect of a would be interview if you didnt carry the virus. Racial assault directed at asian women are some of the strongest. We hear that men only want to date us because they have an asian fetish because dominic to morph verbally explicit forms like what ida had experienced. And from my own personal experience it can be especially difficult to respond in these kinds of circumstances, because Asian American women tend to experience these harder forms of micro aggression on a regular basis, to the point where some of us may have
internalised these narratives, and it may become increasingly more difficult for some of us to distinguish what is acceptable, low key distinguish what is acceptable, low key racism versus what isnt. 0ne low key racism versus what isnt. One thing that i also noticed, when Asian Americans speak about their experiences, you know, a common follow up question has usually been, well, what did you do . Did you say anything back did you do anything to resolve the situation . And that has troubled me because these questions are troubled me because these questions a re often troubled me because these questions are often used as a preface to highlight stereotypes like Asian Americans being, you know, passive and submissive and not fighting back. And essentially it is the logic that maybe this wouldnt happen to us if we had stood up to ourselves for ourselves, to which i have to say, one, many Asian Americans if you actually read through the stories do dispel these stereotypes by confronting their aggressors. And two, the onus should never be on the victim to react appropriately, whatever that means, to these micro aggression is that weve experienced on a near daily basis. What are the problems speaking up, i mean, do your friends, for example, or your
family, say dont put yourself in troubles way . Yep, thats been a common dilemma that i think Asian Americans run into quite often. Like i said, you know, when you are out in the city, whatever you are out in the city, whatever you whenever you do initiate these types of conversations and confrontations, we dont know how it is going to end up. So yes, there is also a kind of social and familial incentive to just kind of keep your head down and not talk back to these aggressors. I have spent most of my time here in the us, you know, i have become so accustomed to minimising my own experiences, and to compare my struggles against the struggles of other communities. And to think my problems were too trivial or too insignificant to share with others. But i realise that hearing your own experiences validated through other peoples
testimonies can be incredibly appealing and incredibly incredibly healing and incredibly powerful. So that is a response that i hope other Asian Americans would feel, looking at the photos. You know, it is a kind of. To understand that maybe their experiences are validated, and if they for any reason, like me, had decided not to share their stories, not to come forward with their stories, due to a variety of reasons, whether it is fear of criticism from family members, or maybe, you know, generations of Learned Behaviour to prioritise other things, like financial and social status over Mental Health and emotional well being, i social status over Mental Health and emotionalwell being, ijust social status over Mental Health and emotional well being, i just hope that they feel that their experiences are being validated as well. Can you tell me more about the way in which people have delivered insults or abuse since coronavirus fears have come to the fore . It seems that you are telling me it is
more open. Yes, so the insults, yes, theyve become more open, and every one of the participants that we spoke to, you know, they were out in public. While they had experienced this. So another reason why we really wa nted this. So another reason why we really wanted to photograph the places where these incidents had occurred was because we wanted to convey the kind of view that these incidents, these slurs are being thrown at us in public spaces like the street, the subway platform, public restrooms, for example. And we also wanted to really turn these sides of victimisation, if you well, come into sites of resistance. But yes, a lot of these slurs are being thrown at us, a lot of the racial aggressions, have become amplified in the context of the covid pandemic, and a lot of it does take place in, you know, public spaces. A lot of the reason being because we are confined to interacting with each other only in public spaces at
this time. But i think it goes to show that, you know, it is a day to day experience for many of us. There is also the way, haruka, and you have referred to this, the way you are being targeted as an asian face, Asian American. You are japanese. Some of your subjects are chinese american or korean. But everybody gets the same general slur, insult. Exactly, yes. And thats something that unfortunately a lot of us have gotten used to. I mean, icant a lot of us have gotten used to. I mean, i cant speak for everybody, but as for my experience, you know, i grew but as for my experience, you know, igrew up but as for my experience, you know, i grew up my entire life in the us Public Education system, and i have gotten so used to being called racial slurs, calling me chinese, essentially. But yes, that hasnt taken on as much of a significance, because especially in the context of this pandemic, right . It doesnt
matter if you are chinese american, you also shouldnt be experiencing this type of racial aggression. What about the reactions . Youve been publishing these stories. You had an article in time magazine. Your images are out there. Tell me something about the reactions. So the actions have been overwhelmingly positive. You know, i received daily m essa 9 es positive. You know, i received daily messages from other Asian Americans who have said that these stories have validated many of their own experiences. And thankfully i think it sparked larger conversations about the model minority myth, and how asians or the image of Asian Americans have been kind of contorted and re engineered throughout history. We started, you know, a b in the 19th century we we re know, a b in the 19th century we were depicted as these disease ridden foreigners, to these conniving enemies during world war ii, to now the we are these apolitical submissive model minority types, the term was coined in 1968. 0ur images often used to serve political agendas and to legitimise immigration policies here in the us. And i think Asian Americans are kind of coming to a point where we are starting to revisit this method once again, and we are currently at a precipice of possibly changing this narrative head on. Precipice of possibly changing this narrative headon. I also want to ask how your experiences sit with the huge reckoning in the United States now over race and equality, so much being said about black lives matter, so much awareness of identity politics. Asianamericans, we have to share our experience is not in spite of but because of the black lives matter movement. Black americans, black social reformers like frederick douglass, for example, have long paved the way of advocating for chinese immigrants. The Civil Rights Movement had allowed all people of colour to gain access to the right to vote. And essentially, you know, black americans have long paved the road
for our rights and citizenship in this country. So the job and responsibility of Asian Americans, especially during this particular time in history, is to really acknowledge the tireless work of the people of colour that came before us, who have laid the foundation of our rights and citizenship here in this country, and to continue this legacy of resistance. Photographer Haruka Sakaguchi on her personal experiences of racist abuse as a japanese american. 0ne experiences of racist abuse as a japanese american. One of three personal stories this week about the virus and prejudice. I am personal stories this week about the virus and prejudice. Iam Philippa Thomas. Thank you forjoining us for coronavirus your stories. Hello again. There were two very different types of weather across the uk during wednesday. Its a similar setup as we go into thursday. In the south, weve got lots of low cloud. This was borth on cardigan bay during wednesday afternoon. To the north of that, weve got a showery regime, much more sunshine around. And the divider is this area of low pressure. So keeping all parts unsettled, but its been bringing in heavy and persistent rain during the course of wednesday night. And that heaviest rain yes, it will be clearing out of the way, but it leaves a legacy of those weather fronts and misty clouds. Its pretty humid, as well, with that by the front across the southern half of the country a tad chillierfurther north. But lots of misty, low cloud, hill and coastal fog to clear first thing. 0r certainly the rain clears, but that misty, low cloud is likely to hang around for much of the day. So dull and overcast, damp and dreary, and very little changes. Of course, it wont be raining all day. Therell be some drier slots, as we had during the day on wednesday. And its still quite warm, 19 20 degrees, generally speaking. You might see some of the brighter skies filter into the north of england later. Just the odd shower for northern ireland, with some sunny spells. Sunny spells across scotland. But given the light winds,
when the showers develop, they could become heavy and thundery and slow moving. So quite a lot of rain falling in a shortish space of time from those thunderstorms. But equally, either side of them, plenty of sunshine. And those will translate into clearer skies as we go through thursday night, as those thunderstorms rumble out. And that clearer weather is gradually filtering southwards. So not quite as humid through the night ahead, more comfortable for sleeping. More sunshine, therefore, on offer as we go into friday. But a brisker wind, and that wind comes down from the north west, and it will make it feel cooler, and notably so in the south, although there will be more sunshine to compensate. But equally, as you can see, lots of showers. Theyll be heavy, as well, running southwards on that north westerly breeze. They do tend to dampen down any activity towards the west later. Why . Because weve got the azores high moving in, and thats with us for the weekend, just with the risk of more rain coming into the northwest of the uk come sunday. So for many, were lifting our temperatures a little, as well, with more sunshine and lighter winds across the south. In the north, still predominantly dry, but potentially some rain in the north west later. Welcome to bbc news my name is mike embley. Our top stories yemens latest battle. After years of civil war and hunger, how does a country fight a pandemic, with little medical care and almost no testing . The number of Coronavirus Infections in the us passes 3 million with at least 133,000 deaths. The white house claims cases are flattening out. Melbourne begins a second lockdown in response to a new spike in covid infections. Some residents in australias second largest city are told to stay at home for six more weeks. Queensland will close its border with victoria in 2a hours. On day two of his libel case at the high court in london johnny depp
strongly denies slapping