0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some scenes
0:00:04 > 0:00:08which some viewers may find upsetting
0:00:09 > 0:00:14In 2015, over one million people smuggled themselves into Europe.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31BABY CRIES
0:00:36 > 0:00:39For a year, we followed some of their extraordinary journeys
0:00:39 > 0:00:41across 26 countries.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02We filmed them as they left their homes and families behind.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13Across continents, all the way to their final destinations.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22And they used camera phones to record the places
0:01:22 > 0:01:24no-one else could go.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36This is the story of the migrant crisis,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40told by the people who risked everything for the dream
0:01:40 > 0:01:43of a better life in Europe.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46I survived Isis, I survived beheadings, I survived Assad.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50I survived shellings.
0:01:50 > 0:01:51I survived the sea.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I survived everything.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58I was almost killed for a stupid idea called the UK.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08In Izmir, finding a smuggler wasn't hard.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12They're everywhere. The very first night we got there,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15I was walking up in Basmane Square and they approach you being, like,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19"So, you want to go to Greece?" As if you're...
0:05:19 > 0:05:21This is human trafficking,
0:05:21 > 0:05:22but it was that easy.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49They portray it to you as if you're going on a 5-star yacht
0:05:49 > 0:05:52into the island and you'll be fine. "Don't worry about it."
0:05:52 > 0:05:55But they are... They lie, they're full of lies.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57'Don't trust them.'
0:06:02 > 0:06:04HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:08:37 > 0:08:40BOY SHOUTS
0:09:58 > 0:10:00I was scared, to be honest.
0:10:00 > 0:10:01I was really scared.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04That area is full of wrong things.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Human traffickers,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10people who've ended up on the side of the road selling things to carry
0:10:10 > 0:10:12on with their journeys.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18The worst part of it is to make fake life jackets.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Because we later found out that the majority of them...
0:10:25 > 0:10:27make the person sink instead of float.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25- NEWSCASTER:- At dawn this morning, this group came ashore on the Greek island of Kos...
0:12:25 > 0:12:29- The islands are seeing a huge rise in migrant arrivals... - ..Flimsy inflatables, evidence...
0:12:29 > 0:12:32In 24 hours, more than 40 have died trying to cross...
0:12:32 > 0:12:34But these are desperate people.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Many trying to leave countries in conflict.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39- ..Eight were found this morning... - ..22 people were killed...
0:12:39 > 0:12:42He'd drowned trying to cross from Turkey.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45The image of Alan Kurdi's body washing up at this spot
0:12:45 > 0:12:48has profoundly shocked this country.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19We had to stay for four days in Izmir,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22because there was a storm and the sea condition was very awful,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25so he would call us every day and be, like, "We can't go today,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29"so next day, hopefully." Next day, next day, next day.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Syrians who have already done the journey post it on Facebook
0:16:36 > 0:16:39and they estimated that it'll cost around 3,000 euros
0:16:39 > 0:16:41to get you to Germany or Sweden.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47I knew that I wanted to go to the UK, so I had to, like, add...
0:16:47 > 0:16:50two extra thousand, so it was, like...
0:16:50 > 0:16:52It was 5,000 euros.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Some people are like, "How can they afford that, the refugees?
0:16:57 > 0:17:00"How come they have that much money?"
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Not knowing that refugees fled Syria not because they're poor.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08They had money.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10But it's not safe for them to live there any more.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12And refugees, a lot of them,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14they sold their properties to do this journey.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16They, literally, sold their property.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Sold their houses, their shops, their cars.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Practising for tonight.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38One, two, go.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54Before we took our journey, we heard that there was a boat
0:22:54 > 0:22:57in which five people died, cos the boat went down and five people died.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05And you wish you...
0:23:05 > 0:23:08You can do something about it. You wish you can change this,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11but you can't. I...was helpless back then.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18And that's what happened to a lot of people.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24We're still waiting for the truck.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26It's supposed to arrive to pick us...
0:23:26 > 0:23:28To pick the rest of us, around 20 to 30 people.
0:23:28 > 0:23:3130 people in here, to the point.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35I don't know why, it's been... It hasn't been... It's a bit windy.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37It's a bit windy today.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39According to the application,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42the wave height's going to stay less than 60 centimetres.
0:23:47 > 0:23:48But I just didn't see it happening to us.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54You don't actually believe that your boat is going to go down
0:23:54 > 0:23:56and we're going to die. It should be fine.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11It's... It's 2. 2.10.
0:24:16 > 0:24:17We're heading to the point.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38We got there, and we were around 90 people.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46I was like, "Well, that's going to be great. If they split us in half,
0:24:46 > 0:24:51"we'll be 45 on the boat. That'll be great."
0:24:52 > 0:24:53The first boat is on...
0:24:56 > 0:25:00They put around 35 people on one boat,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03and...they were, like, "Go!"
0:25:05 > 0:25:08And what scared me the most is that they asked one of the refugees,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11one of the people who are going to go on the boat, they were, like,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13"Come. We will train you on how to operate the engine."
0:25:13 > 0:25:15And I was like, "Oh, my God!"
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Cos this is someone who has no idea, he has never done this,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23and they train him in, like, three minutes?
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And it was around 60 people left and there was one boat.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39This is not going to go right. This is not going to be OK.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36Oh, my God.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44WATER SLOSHES
0:28:53 > 0:28:56CHILDREN CRY
0:29:22 > 0:29:25There was a kid who was sitting right in front of me on the boat.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28And when I got in the water, he was, like, crying,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31but he was looking at me and he was, like...
0:29:31 > 0:29:34- HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE - ..as in, like, "Sir...
0:29:34 > 0:29:36"Please do something. Call the coastguard or do something."
0:29:36 > 0:29:38And I'm like...
0:29:40 > 0:29:42..I was so helpless, I...
0:29:42 > 0:29:45I wanted to do something, but I couldn't help him.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55It's just seeing, seeing the fear and...
0:29:55 > 0:29:56It's not, I mean, I've...
0:29:56 > 0:29:59For some... I mean, we're...
0:29:59 > 0:30:02We're young men, we can have it, we can do it, but to see that, like,
0:30:02 > 0:30:06to see that kids are going through this and they're crying for help
0:30:06 > 0:30:09and they're pleading for you to help them or do something.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12He was, like, literally, he was, like, "Just do something,"
0:30:12 > 0:30:14and he was crying. To witness that is just hard.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19After half an hour, the coastguards showed up.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22The Turkish coastguards showed up and they...
0:30:25 > 0:30:27We all got on the... On their...
0:30:27 > 0:30:29We were rescued, all of us.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32Luckily no-one died.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34No-one drowned.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37And we were taken back to the coastguard station.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41The treatment was good. They gave us food and water.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46And then, after a while, we...
0:30:46 > 0:30:50After they took our information, they released us,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52after, like, a couple of hours.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Then we went back to Izmir.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02Back to square one.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Nobody wants to leave their country and risk dying in the sea.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17But when it becomes impossible to live in your own country...
0:31:20 > 0:31:22..people will do desperate things.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Mama!
0:31:54 > 0:31:58Mama! Mama!
0:32:02 > 0:32:04Mama! Mama!
0:32:06 > 0:32:08Mama!
0:32:09 > 0:32:10Mama!
0:36:07 > 0:36:09GUNSHOT
0:36:10 > 0:36:12HE LAUGHS
0:36:26 > 0:36:27GUNSHOT
0:36:31 > 0:36:32GUNSHOT
0:38:10 > 0:38:12LAUGHTER
0:40:59 > 0:41:04First, when we landed, everybody was very happy, was very excited.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Then we had to call the Greek police.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15They came and they put us in a group and we started walking and walking
0:41:15 > 0:41:18and walking and walking for three hours.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22I started smelling the air.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25I thought, "Is the air different from the Middle East?"
0:41:25 > 0:41:28- You know? - HE SNIFFS
0:41:28 > 0:41:33I thought, yeah, I convinced myself that it's new, it's different,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36because you don't want your hopes and dreams to let you down.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01We had a small boat, contained 88 people -
0:42:01 > 0:42:05Syrians, Afghanis, Iraqis and Iranians.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Yeah. The smuggler said, "If you don't shut up,
0:42:09 > 0:42:13"we're going to shoot you in the head". It was quite horrible.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15- INTERVIEWER:- And what was the crossing like?
0:42:15 > 0:42:16It was quite peaceful.
0:42:16 > 0:42:23It was on a quiet, peaceful night, sitting on the bench of this boat,
0:42:23 > 0:42:25enjoying the view.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27It was quite easy, to be honest.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29I never felt scary about it.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37When the police get people on the shores,
0:42:37 > 0:42:41they bring them right away to this place.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45Sounds like this is, you know... "Hotel Captain Elias,"
0:42:45 > 0:42:47an abandoned hotel.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51What is now a permanent refugee camp.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56And by the way, this camp is in a very bad situation,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59because there's no electricity.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04HE PLAYS A TUNE
0:43:24 > 0:43:26I couldn't stay here.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29I prefer to go to a hotel.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31I've saved some money for a hotel, you know.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33I couldn't live here. I can't live here.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52So this is Oscar Hotel.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54This is my place for the time being.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57I've been staying here for the last...
0:43:57 > 0:43:58seven days.
0:43:58 > 0:44:04I think this hotel has about, almost 400 or 500 rooms
0:44:04 > 0:44:07and mainly occupied by Syrians.
0:44:16 > 0:44:17Please, come in.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19You're welcome.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22Get in. Come on, man. You're my guest now.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26And this is me. This is where I sleep.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29This is the books I'm reading.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31The Oxford Pocket Dictionary.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36I bought it back in Syria. One of my best of friends ever.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40And this is my humble refrigerator.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45I've got a lot of jam here, water and bread.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49And here is my balcony.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53I spend most of my time here sitting, reading,
0:44:53 > 0:44:57planning how I'm going to reach to my destination.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00Yeah.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02The UK. The United Kingdom.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11'I never wanted to leave my family behind.'
0:45:15 > 0:45:18But I know someone from my town
0:45:18 > 0:45:22who took a boat from Libya to Italy.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25And he lost his entire family -
0:45:25 > 0:45:28his two daughters and his wife.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35I can't imagine watching my, my...
0:45:35 > 0:45:38my daughter, or my child, and my wife
0:45:38 > 0:45:41dying in front of my eyes, drowning.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48Me and my wife, we agreed
0:45:48 > 0:45:51that I will travel to the UK...
0:45:52 > 0:45:54..and they will later on join me.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03After three or four days from
0:46:03 > 0:46:07being off the grid, we finally made it.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09Finally made it to Greece.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12The boat capsized.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14We lost all our shit, all our bags were gone.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36Here, it's disaster.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39As you can see, refugees are everywhere.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43They're mostly from Afghanistan, some are Syrians.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46This is where we spent our night last night.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48We don't have anything on us.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Especially, especially me.
0:46:50 > 0:46:55I mean, I only have now my shorts, my T-shirt and my...
0:46:55 > 0:46:58my running shoes. Everything's lost, basically.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01- Um... - CHILD SCREAMS
0:47:07 > 0:47:10When we landed in Greece...
0:47:10 > 0:47:14expectations didn't align with reality. I...
0:47:14 > 0:47:18In my mind, I thought it was going to be this organised structure,
0:47:18 > 0:47:20where there are...
0:47:20 > 0:47:24NGOs, volunteers, people helping out, but it was...
0:47:24 > 0:47:26It was very chaotic.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34A new boat just arrived,
0:47:34 > 0:47:38so what the people do here, they steal life jackets
0:47:38 > 0:47:39so they can sleep on them.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44Cos you're basically sleeping on the ground
0:47:44 > 0:47:47if you're not sleeping on one of them.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53I was kind of pampered in Damascus.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55Like, I had everything.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58I had my car, I could go back to my room, I had my own room.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00Sleeping in my own bed.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04I didn't sleep on the side of the road ever.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06Never in my life I slept on the side of a road.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08And never in my life, actually, I went camping.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11I never went camping. I always wanted to.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14And I think I've done my share of camping by now.
0:48:14 > 0:48:15But I...
0:48:15 > 0:48:17I just didn't... I wasn't used to this.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22And most of those people were traumatised.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26They've left their countries, they almost died on the way.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31And no-one was there to help out.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33No-one did actually care.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37I was shocked, cos...
0:48:37 > 0:48:39I thought, like, "This is Europe."
0:48:41 > 0:48:43I thought it was going to be different.
0:50:09 > 0:50:15When you reach any Greek island, the police need to fingerprint you.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19Once you're in the system...
0:50:19 > 0:50:20you get a piece of paper.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24This piece of paper allows you to take a ferry
0:50:24 > 0:50:29and go to the mainland in Athens, so that you can continue your journey.
0:50:29 > 0:50:35I spent about 20... About 20 days waiting for that piece of paper.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38And on a daily basis, there were a lot of new people arriving
0:50:38 > 0:50:41and the numbers increasing and increasing and the tensions
0:50:41 > 0:50:43increasing, you know, in that place.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50I think the names, our names will be announced now.
0:50:50 > 0:50:51I'm not sure, but they say...
0:50:54 > 0:50:57And I was very angry, like, inside.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02Because 20 days...
0:51:02 > 0:51:05I can reach America, not the UK.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18Syrians and Afghanistanis, sit down. Everyone sit down.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24NAMES ARE CALLED
0:51:53 > 0:51:58So, after... They arrived and they asked if someone can speak English,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01and I took... I volunteered so I can say the names.
0:52:01 > 0:52:02Luckily, our names were included.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06We have the paper and now we're going to go and book to Athens.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11- This paper allows us to take the ferry...- We made it! We made it!
0:52:23 > 0:52:25The way to Athens!
0:52:25 > 0:52:27Very excited about it.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00I've never been on a ferry in my life and when we went on it,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03we were, like, "Oh! This is what I would travel in the sea with."
0:53:05 > 0:53:09I mean, I don't mind going to Canada on this ferry!
0:53:09 > 0:53:11Cos is legit. This is how people are supposed to travel,
0:53:11 > 0:53:14not on a nine-metre dinghy.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19We showered on the ferry, we had something to eat.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23One of my friends was, like, "Can you sink me now?"
0:53:23 > 0:53:25HE LAUGHS
0:53:29 > 0:53:31I wanted to contact my family.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35My place was under siege.
0:53:36 > 0:53:37There's no electricity.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41The reception towers, they were all blown up.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45I spend sometimes two, three weeks never hearing from them.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51Sorry, I'm... It really is very urgent that I'm taking the advantage
0:53:51 > 0:53:55that she has got reception, so I'm trying to text her, you know.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04For the first time in...months.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07SKYPE RINGTONE
0:54:07 > 0:54:08Hello?
0:54:09 > 0:54:11HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:54:17 > 0:54:18Hello?
0:54:24 > 0:54:25Hello?
0:54:29 > 0:54:30Hello?
0:55:12 > 0:55:13OK.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:55:25 > 0:55:27Wow!
0:55:27 > 0:55:31You know, she said, "III need to...
0:55:31 > 0:55:35"to hang up, because I can't even speak."
0:55:36 > 0:55:39There's a lot of people around her, you know.
0:55:39 > 0:55:45And she's very afraid of speaking, because now she's in a place
0:55:45 > 0:55:47under the regime's control, you know,
0:55:47 > 0:55:51and cos I'm stupid, I'm asking stupid questions about
0:55:51 > 0:55:53how is the situation and how is Isis and how is...
0:55:53 > 0:55:55So she's...
0:55:58 > 0:56:00So she told me, "Don't speak.
0:56:00 > 0:56:05"I mean, type it, so I can type for you, so no-one can hear me."
0:56:10 > 0:56:12(Oh, shit. I don't know.)
0:56:20 > 0:56:22Oh...I really don't know.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32No! No, sir. No.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57Oh, my God, look at that.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59There. The horizon.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01It's England.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11To find out about the effect social media and smartphones
0:58:11 > 0:58:13can have on the refugees' journey,
0:58:13 > 0:58:19go to bbc.co.uk/exodus and follow the links to the Open University.