why did they come to the conclusion of settlement only? we are glad and thankful that the government did change its policy. we achieved what we thought would be impossible, i.e.settlement rights for all the gurkhas across the board. we will now carry on for equal pension, and that is the last stand. this was the concluding chapter. it marked that we were now considered equal to the rest of the british forces and that is certainly uplifting. our final witness remembers a unique, if brief, name and in soviet history. in 1985, communist authorities restricted the sale of alcohol in the ussr to fight rising addiction. three years later the campaign was abandoned as the soviet economy began to fail. we spoke to a former adviser to the essential committee of the communist party who helped to put the law

into place. there used to be one image of the soviet work and this was it young, efficient and above all sober. now there is another, half asleep and half way to dipsomania. a quarter of all workers would have a glass of vodka before going to work. hello, this is bbc news this was widespread with rajini vaidya natha. the headlines... among our working class. manchester united captain harry maguire pleads not guilty and is released from police custody the russians call alcohol following his arrest the green snake and opening on the greek island time the hour of mykonos. uk tourists who've been of the world. on holiday to croatia, austria and trinidad and tobago now time the have to isolate for m days when they get back. hour of the wolf. hundreds of thousands of people in north west england are told not put the two together to socialise with anyone and the results can be disastrous. outside their household to stem i saw clearly that any coronavirus infections. country where a quarter of all workers are alcoholics, this country survives by killing its own people. police say a 15—year—old girl has that was very died and several passengers clear to me. on a boat have been injured after a collision in the water the state makes billions

off the hampshire in alcohol tax but the state coast. has ordered its california struggles to contain huge wildfires people to sober burning forests and homes up. and causing thousands as someone who spoke of residents to flee. to gorbachev often, i could tell he did not understand what now on bbc news, it's witness history, the where we hear from five people who have experienced ussr important moments in history, was including a jewish woman who found about. refuge in britain after she was transported out of nazi germany. of all the soviet freedoms, only one was always there, the freedom to drink. all russians love vodka. for years, ambulances hello and welcome to have witness history with me, patrolled city razia iqbal, here at the royal academy in london. streets today we'll hear from five taking people to special drying people who have witnessed out centres but medical incredible moments in facilities are now to be improved. the authorities say they will history. fight this ugly phenomenon coming up: the soldiers who fought for the british and remove from soviet but were not allowed life. translation: as to settle in britain. the last days of the part sri lankan civil war. of the campaign, the first latin american coup, backed by the us. alcohol sales and when the soviet were limited from the period from 2pm to 7pm. union banned alcohol. many wine shops were closed

and most importantly only one bottle of vodka was sold per person. but first, to a story of love, if you add a birthday party, you had to show hope and sacrifice. your passport from 1938 until the start of the second world war to prove in 1939, thousands ofjewish it was really children were sent from europe to the your birthday. uk. most of them travelled without their parents, fleeing the rise of the nazis. about 1988, 1989, it dame stephanie shirley was only five years old when she said became clear that the goodbye to her mother, never knowing if she campaign was would see her again. damaging. newsreel: 200 boys and girls with a greeting to england and the land of the free. they are between the ages of five and 17, the advanced guard of the first 5000 jewish and non—aryan child refugees from germany have been provided with a temporary home here, while arrangements are made the soviet system forthem to immigrate. simply collapsed. everybody always said, aren't you lucky? millions of people aren't you lucky? lost theirjobs. indeed in the soviet days, we if a worker had a drink before going to work, were. at least there were some restraint on him sometimes, when i've been in the workplace. asked my date of birth, i've said with the collapse of the ussr

there were no social structures 1939 because, any more and to me, my the alcoholic had life started then. nothing holding the kinder transport him back. we didn't understand was an amazing rescue mission, set up by christian and jewish it and neither did activists, who brought nearly gorbachev. 10,000 mainlyjewish remembering interesting times with the former president, mikhail gorbachev. children out of nazi that is all for europe. i was five years old this month. and i was we will be back next month one of those with more first—hand accounts of more extraordinary children. moments in history. my family was for now, from me and secularjewish. the rest we had moved over quite of the team, a bit of europe, starting from dortmund where my father goodbye. was a judge and he'd been fired in 1933 and finished up in vienna, my mother's home city. i think it was clear that jews in central europe faced catastrophe. there was an announcement that there had been hello, there. it has not been a concession over the nazis

quite to allow children up as windy today, a day of sunshine to the age of 16 in blustery showers, a good day for to leave without their parents. chasing rainbows, here we had one we knew something earlier on from a weather watcher in somerset and further north into west was afoot yorkshire as well. they showers and we were going are to england. still around at the moment, some i can remember the scene heavy ones, the main area of low at the station of many, pressure that has brought the many families, windy weather is healthy weight so the mostly weeping, some windsor easing down. wailing. showers will i believe most parents did not expect to see continue into this evening, heavy their children again. ones coming into my mother did northern england. as they head southwards, they not cry, nor did tend to fade away. many places become we. drier with clear risk lies i was with my sister, renata, are who was ten years old. lighter winds, temperature similar to last night, 11 i clutched her, to 1a degrees. i was scared. chillier in the far we had an overnight crossing to harwich and then another north of train to liverpool street scotland. tomorrow, starting dry with spells of sunshine, showers get station. going quickly northern ireland, head over the irish sea when we got off the train, the platform was silent. into wales, northern england, the midlands, you've got 1,000 children — tired and smelly after two towards east anglia and and a half days, absolutely the south—east, and heavy thundery

exhausted. downpours. in the afternoon, dry there was no chatter, no in wales and the south—west. lighter noise. eventually children were called and off we went winds tomorrow, in scotland, with our new parents. few showers, and it will we were among the last be cooler, 1a to be claimed. to 16 degrees, top temperature we were fostered by a lovely in the south—east 22 or 23 english couple in the midlands of england, who had seen celsius again. monday stays fairly quiet, a photograph in a local the winds are light again, thickening cloud coming in from the paper of my sister and i with just a few lines underneath, west bringing rain, it saying, "two sisters, may well stay well brought up, seeking dry through scotland, rather cool a home, with the highest temperature in can you the south—east of 21 celsius. quiet day help?" they couldn't speak a word on monday, but not overnight into of german, i couldn't speak a word in tuesday because a deepening area of low pressure is widening itself english. i was traumatised, they up, heading across the uk. the winds were nervous, it was pretty will strengthen overnight, grim. my feelings with just of being disturbed and being perhaps continuing into wednesday for a with strange people, while. gales is quite likely, of not understanding what was going on. especially in the south, and this is when was i going where we are likely to to have further travel disruption. a wet start see my mother again? to we were reunited after about tuesday, increasingly windy for many parts of the country, the ray not 12 months or so and we lived

reaching northern scotland, clearing with our natural away from some in the bowels of parents. england, wales and when i was in my teens. southern england as i think happens quite often could go to 60 miles an hour. fading they separated families, away on wednesday. i never really temperatures no bonded with them better than 20 or 21 celsius. that again and that is it for me. i really mourn. goodbye. the act of sending your children away is a fantastic act of love. it didn't seem like it at the time but it is the most loving thing a parent can do. the former child refugee dame stephanie shirley. next we hear the story of the first latin american coup, organised by the us government. president presidentjacobo arbenz of guatemala had proposed land reforms that were seen as a threat to america's united fruit company. he was labelled a communist in the company wanted him removed. his son, also called jacobo, remembers when his father's government was overthrown in 1954.

translation: i was only seven years old when my father was overthrown in the coup, organised by the cia. i remember having to hide under the bed during the bombing. my parents did their best not to worry us but we soon realised how serious things were and the dangers that we faced. guatemala was a very backwards country, based on a colonial, almost feudal system. one of the first things that my father, coloneljacobo arbenz did as president, was to bring in reforms to modernise farming. america's united fruit company, which had enormous economic power in guatemala at the time did not like the changes.

they became very upset when they saw that their monopoly was being affected. this was the time of the cold war, so they took advantage of this to label my father a communist, which was totally untrue and that is how they promoted and justified the idea of an invasion. newsreel: aircraft parachute meagre supplies to the airstrip as the rebels tried to oust the government. the shabbily—clad, poorly trained troops from honduras over ran the sleepy town... translation: the basic plan of the cia was to promote an invasion from neighbouring honduras. they trained mercenaries in the us and in honduras, too. at first, when they crossed into guatemala, the army managed to beat them back. my father spent

most of the time in the ministry of defence. i remember him always looking very worried, pacing up and down, smoking, trying to work out what to do next. when aeroplanes started bombing guatemala city, my father moved us out of the presidential palace and then his fellow officers got scared and told him, colonel, we can no longer support you. carrying anti—communist banners, jubilant soldiers celebrate victory following their two—week revolt in guatemala. three more countries are now my father resigned on the uk quarantine list — those who missed the 4am deadline as president to return will have to isolate for onjune the 27th 1h days. may 195a. holidaymakers from croatia, austria and trinidad and tobago rushed back — i have taken a momentous some said there should have been more decision for our country in the hope that it notice. most of the flights will halt are on saturday morning. the invasion and if they'd given 48 hours we'd all be bring back, but now we all have

peace back to guatemala. to quarantine for two weeks, i remember that my sisters so it's a pain. and i were only allowed to take a few toys with us scotland has also imposed quarantine on people when we left. returning from switzerland. unfortunately, the invasion also tonight: and the coup had a terrible tighter coronavirus restrictions lasting effect on our are imposed on parts of the north—west of england, family but also on after a spike in cases. the the captain of manchester united guatemalan people. harry maguire pleads not guilty to charges relating my sisters took it all to an altercation with police in very badly and resented greece. what had happened. and a feast of runs by england as a result, in 1965, in the third test against pakistan, including a double century by zak one of them took her own life and the other crawley. one did the same in 200a. my father died a very bitter man, disappointed that what he had tried to do for guatemala had been so misunderstood. jacobo arbenz with his memories of the first latin american good evening. coup organised by the cia. now to south asia and the final days of the civil war in sri

lanka. for more than two decades, the army had fought the tamil tiger rebels. in 2009, the government forces began to close in on them. thousands of civilians were trapped alongside rebel fighters, beyond the reach ofjournalists, aid workers and independent witnesses. former united nations official gordon vice remembers it as one of the worst situations he'd ever encountered. sri lankan‘s government says it is close to winning the island's civil war after 25 years. the fighting has been intense and bloody. in a 25—year civil war, there had been many terrible episodes. this final few months of the war was by far the most bitter and the most vicious. 250,000 people caught in the middle, hungry, frightened, tired. many of them on the run from fighting for up to

a year. some of them had been displaced 10 or 15 times. i had worked in a number of conflict zones before and since the war in sri lanka but the sri lankan experience was unique. the conflict on the island has pitted the government, based in colombo and dominated by the sinhalese majority against the tamil tigers. they'd been fighting in the north for a state for ethnic minority tamils. the tamil tigers or ltte have been ruthless, pioneers in suicide bombings. they also stand accused of conscripting child soldiers but the government has been using brutal methods of its own. the offensive opened with very heavy bombardment, breaking up the tamil tiger positions and rolling the civilian population back. the un had fairly good access to these areas back in september 2008, the un was told in no uncertain terms that it needed to move its international offices out

of the siege area. the purpose was to ensure they were not independent witnesses to what was going to happen. this footage was released by pro—tamil groups yesterday. it claims to show carnage caused when shells hit a clinic. it is impossible to know for sure when or where the footage was shot. the tigers claim the army is using heavy weapons. the government says that is a lie and these imagesjust propaganda. on one particular day we had very graphic descriptions from the doctors, who were managing the hospitals inside the zone about a very heavy bombardment that had taken place in which dozens and dozens of civilians had been killed and injured and that was the day that we declared that there had been a bloodbath. the government was very unhappy with us. they began to threaten to expel various un offices, ——

officers, myself included. my reaction was, even if a proportion of those images and reports of people getting out where true, the impact on civilians was clearly very high. this was a classic siege, of course. the tamil tigers obviously had an interest in not allowing civilians to cross the front lines into government territory, because that was the one thing that was really standing between them and defeat. the international community had a great deal of ambivalence about what was going on because they wanted to see the tamil tigers destroyed as well. the tamil tigers were a listed terrorist organisation. in the last few days, more and more civilians were able to escape the siege zone. the siege then became smaller till it was a patch and a couple of hundred square metres. a symbolic

moment. sri lankan movements meeting today and cutting the tamil tigers‘ last hope of escape. we had been caught between these two opposing sides, enemies who were literally intent on destroying each other and the un were stuck in the middle. it was an experience that never leaves you. former united nations official gordon vice. remember, you can watch witness history every month on the bbc news channel or you can catch up on all our films, along with more than 1,000 radio programmes in our online archive. just search online for bbc witness history. now to a story of triumph over injustice. for over 200 years, soldiers from the small south asian country of nepal fought and died for the

british armed forces. the soldiers are known as gurkhas and more than 200,000 fought in the two world wars. it is only in 2009 they were actually given the right to settle in the uk. one major remembers the long campaign for equal treatment for gurkhas. outside parliament, the home secretary finally ran up the white flag, government surrender on the gurkhas terms. all former gurkhas who have served more than four years will now be eligible to apply for settlement in the uk. when the announcement was made in 2009, everyone was really happy, exuberant with the news. i would call it a half baked victory. i served in the brigade of gurkhas for that

he one years. ——i served in the brigade of gurkhas for 31 years. nepal allows recruitment into the british army. nowhere will you see this arrangement into the whole world. the gurkha movement says, better to die than be a coward. gurkhas have fought and died for the british irish since 1918. ——gurkhas have fought and died for the british army since 1918. they had 20,000 casualties in the great war. we are an integral part of the british armed forces but we have never been treated equally. we have our own terms and conditions of service. the way we were courted, a family life, barracks, the pay we received was one third of what the british received. we had no right to settle in the uk. we felt

like second—class citizens. having served the british army loyally. people were being deported and that was really scary. they were living in fear day and night because they did not have any status. last weekend a home office deported a former gurkha, despite 13 years of service in the british army. 00:19:24,681 --> 1073741526:02:55,868 it 1073741526:02:55,868 --> 2147483051:46:27,055 was 2147483051:46:27,055 --> 3221224577:29:58,242 a 3221224577:29:58,242 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 disgrace.