Then it declared independence. But instead of a democratic government being installed, the country was run by a series of corrupt politicians and autocrats, including the notorious Emperor Bokassa i. Since then, there have been a series of military putsches. The last coup was in 2013. For decades, numerous warlords and rebel groups among them christians and muslims have fought over the countrys commodities, fertile meadowlands, gold, and diamonds. Thousands of people have been killed, while others have fled to neighbouring countries like chad, cameroon, and the democratic republic of congo. According to the uns refugee agency, around 545,500 people have left. And even more, 600,000 people have been internally displaced. From the air, kaga bandoro in the northern part of the Central African republic looks pretty peaceful. But what were seeing is actually a refugee camp housing around 30,000 people, some of them from the city itself. Half of those in the camp are children. Many have been
More and more people are deserting rural areas for life in cities looking for jobs, educational opportunities, and inspiration. All want a decent place to live and thats the problem. Good locations are in high demand, and prices are steep. Germanys most expensive city is munich. Apartments in the center fetch over 9200 euros a square meter. And in other countries, prices are even higher. In new york, for example, apartments can cost a whopping 11,000 a square meter. The three most expensive cities are london, at over 15,000 euros a square meter. Singapore, which is even pricier. And hong kong tops the list. Flats there can cost an astronomical 21,700 euros per square meter, which leads to harsh Living Conditions for the poor. Reporter their home is a cage seven men live in a single room in bitter poverty. They often dont have enough money for three meals a day. Mr. Leung shows us where hes been living for years. He gets about 500 euros in welfare every month nearly half of which he spe
Metropolises in the hope of finding a decent job. For years they were absorbed into city life after all, they were a key factor in chinas economic miracle. But many are still treated as third class citizens, and arent even officially registered. Its estimated that there are 282 million Migrant Workers across china. Beijings population alone has trebled over the past 25 years. Authorities say its too much. They want millions of the Migrant Workers to leave. Reporter these Migrant Workers have been evicted from their homes in xinjian village on the outskirts of beijing. They have to be out by dawn. Mr. Liu has to find shelter for himself and his workers. He came to beijing 23 years ago, and eventually became the owner of a small textiles workshop. Now they have to pack everything into a truck and leave. Tomorrow, the building could be demolished. Liu two weeks ago there was a fire here in one of the buildings. The next day officials came and told us we had three days to leave. I said, th
Metropolises in the hope of finding a decent job. For years they were absorbed into city life after all, they were a key factor in chinas economic miracle. But many are still treated as third class citizens, and arent even officially registered. Its estimated that there are 282 million Migrant Workers across china. Beijings population alone has trebled over the past 25 years. Authorities say its too much. They want millions of the Migrant Workers to leave. Reporter these Migrant Workers have been evicted from their homes in xinjian village on the outskirts of beijing. They have to be out by dawn. Mr. Liu has to find shelter for himself and his workers. He came to beijing 23 years ago, and eventually became the owner of a small textiles workshop. Now they have to pack everything into a truck and leave. Tomorrow, the building could be demolished. Liu two weeks ago there was a fire here in one of the buildings. The next day officials came and told us we had three days to leave. I said, th
Theres very little room for the more than seven million residents. But there are plenty of buyers for luxury apartments a profitable business for real estate companies. Buying an apartment is barely affordable even for the middle class its long been the norm for them to spend half their income on rent or a mortgage. For many, hong kong is a housing nightmare. Because of her efforts to help, today shes visiting the home of 13yearold chak ming. Owners here have subdivided many of the apartments into minilodgings, known as shoeboxes. With just a parttime job and welfare, all this mother and child can afford are about twoandahalf square meters, with a bunk bed and a small table. The mother cries a lot, and wishes she could provide Something Better for her son. Our apartment should really be big enough so that my son and i can move around freely. Here, its so small that we can only enter the room one at a time. Reporter chak ming wont tell his classmates how he lives hes too ashamed. Most p