Episode 2 Exodus: Our Journey

This programme contains some strong language.

EXPLOSION

GUNFIRE

HORNS HONK

Nobody wants to leave their country

and risk dying in the sea.

But when it becomes impossible

to live in your own country...

..people will do desperate things.

In 2015, over one million people

smuggled themselves into Europe.

I wanted to contact my family,

but I couldn't because my place was under siege.

This is the story of the migrant crisis,

told by the people who risked everything

for the dream of a better life in Europe.

Me and my wife, we agreed

that I will travel to the UK

and my family will later on join me.

You see, if you look at here...

A lot of numbers - smugglers, smugglers, smugglers. Wow.

They've got groups on Facebook, you know?

Closed groups, so they keep posting, advertising,

prices, dates, routes...

Discounts. Promotion, you know?

Yeah.

-Sorry. Do you know where the Omonia Square is?

-That way.

That way? Five minutes?

Sorry. Omonia Square?

Right here? Thank you so much.

-Good evening, sir. Do you know where is the Omonia Square?

-Five minutes.

Thank you so much.

OK. I mean, everybody says five minutes.

I don't know what's the meaning of five minutes in Greece...

HORNS HONK

Bye.

He will be here in...

ten minutes.

And, to be honest, if you're asking about my feeling,

I'm now so anxious...

Not about travelling, but about you filming me because...

..a lot of mothers are looking at me now

because, you know, I know there's a lot of, a LOT of, a lot of these...

you know,

traffickers, they're not happy.

Seeing you, in particular, ruining their job.

Well, shit. It's better you turn it off because they will be...

No, please turn it off.

Because if they see the camera or they see me... What are you doing?

OK.

'He came...

'..with a suitcase

'full of passports.'

And I asked him how much it would cost me to the UK.

He told me it would cost about seven, 8,000. I said...

"This is too expensive".

Then I said, "OK, how about France? Can you get me to France?"

He said, "Of course".

He said, "I'll give you half price".

Because you can fly easily to Marseille.

And from there...

my next step will be...Paris,

the city of love.

This is the picture of my little daughter and my wife.

You see the building out there?

Last week,

there was a bomb,

two little children lost their lives there, in my town.

It's about 200 metres from my house.

(Shit.)

I don't want to talk about my family, to be honest.

I want to be so positive

because, whenever I think about my family, things get fucked up.

I don't want to talk about them. No, they are fine there.

I don't want to think about it, to be honest,

and I don't like to be reminded of them.

(Shit.)

-Do you want to record video?

-What?

-You are recording video?

-Yes.

Oh...

-If you have any questions, we can talk with you.

-OK.

-Because I can talk English.

-Where are you from?

-I am from Afghanistan.

And we have passed a very difficult way

and finally we arrived in Greece,

so we're thankful for the people of Greece, you are very kind people.

Today, I have seen the Greek people,

they have bought from their pocket,

from their money, from a store, breakfast, lunch, dinner...

-Where do you want to go?

-I want to go Finland.

-Finland?

-Finland.

When I hear it from the news that the borders are open and many people

are going to abroad, then I decided it is time to go, now or never.

Because the people who are living in Afghanistan, all of them

don't like Afghanistan.

But why they stay, because they don't know the way how to come,

or, if they know the way, they don't have the money to come.

I'm sure, if they have enough money,

nobody will remain in Afghanistan

and Afghanistan would be empty.

Here are the buses, which the refugees travel to Macedonia,

and I'm going to find my friends there.

I'm 24 years old and I've faced many problems,

I have seen many problems in my life, and it's enough.

I want to have the remains, the rest of my life, with peace,

with safe life, with good... good situation.

I remember... When I was a child, the regime of Taliban...

..and everything was bad.

'Our war on terror

'begins with Al-Qaeda.'

'US Special Operations Forces were on the ground in Afghanistan...'

'..take back the town from the Taliban...'

'Most US troops left at the end of 2013.'

'..city strongholds, 5,000 US troops dead,

'tens of thousands of Afghans dead,

'hundreds of thousands wounded.'

'Taliban regime is coming to an end.'

The Taliban was very cruel to all human beings...

..and especially for women.

It was not right for a woman in the period of Taliban, no right.

For example, girls and women were not allowed to go for a job,

for work, for studying.

Everything was forbidden for them.

And when they go outside, then it was a rule they should

cover all the parts of your body, all the parts.

If their hands or feet was uncovered,

if a Talib see them like that,

Talib beat them.

When I was Afghanistan, I saw that Taliban are trying to govern again

and, every day, fight is going on.

That is why I decided to leave my home country and come to abroad.

In Afghanistan,

it's very important for every family to have

about five males...

Five men, yes?

But here, I'm just living with four girls -

my sisters.

So, I feel very responsible for them.

MAN TEACHES GERMAN ON PHONE

I learn German language. It is interesting, the language.

-Is it worth risking your life to get there?

-Yeah.

'Ja... Ja...'

GERMAN LESSON FADES OUT

BABY CRIES

PEOPLE CHATTER

You can't go there, everybody. No! No, sorry. No.

PEOPLE SHOUT CHILDREN CRY

No.

'Hundreds of men, women

'and children waiting in the rain near the border.'

'..authorities and aid agencies seemed completely unprepared...'

'Croatian authorities are slowing the flow of migrants

'being allowed in...

-'Refugees...'

-'There are more coming hour after hour.

'Refugees and migrants arriving in Croatia...'

'Still pouring into the European Union...'

'The problem is a lack of coordination.'

'..blocked their entry to the European Union.'

'Whatever limits and quotas EU leaders may have in mind,

'this influx is continuing.'

'There was no shelter, no food,

'no warmth for this group, which included MANY children.'

We think all the body here, they will die.

They kill us here.

They kill us, you must understand.

THEY LAUGH WITH THE CHILDREN

THEY LAUGH AND CLAP

THEY CHANT

HE SPEAKS ENGLISH:

I've never travelled to Europe before.

I don't know what's the atmosphere towards refugees.

It didn't feel like we were welcomed by all those countries

we were going through.

We were certainly not welcome.

It felt like every country was trying to get rid of us.

"Just go north and then you'll figure it out from there."

The back door of the van broke

because around 26 people were stacked in the van.

Around 27, 26 people...

..and an hour and a half is going to take us into Austria.

The driver was drunk.

And they do it on purpose because, if we get caught,

he will get a lesser sentence because he's drunk.

He'll be like,

"Well, they put them in my van - I didn't know about them".

Right now, our van is entering the Austrian borders.

It's nine o'clock. The van just dropped us. We are in Vienna.

I wanted to go to the UK, and it took me around 14 days

and I'm in Austria.

So, yeah, maximum two more weeks and...

..I'm going to be in the UK.

..but I wasn't!

When planning my trip to the UK, I've always wanted to

be as quick as possible.

Time is my worst enemy.

In Syria,

sometimes a minute can change

the entire life of you or your family.

It's an amazing view.

'And the system for family reunion in the UK...

'..is super quick.

'It's so fast.

'Once I am given the refugee status,'

I can get my family easily out of Syria,

which might take me two and a half years in Germany or France.

And, from France, there's only one way for you to cross.

'Thousands of migrants are trying to board trucks bound for Britain...

'And walk off across the tracks towards...

'Angry migrants venting their frustration in Calais -

'they complain that they're being treated like animals.'

'You've got a swarm of people wanting to come to Britain

'because Britain has got jobs, it's got a growing economy,

'it's an incredible place to live...'

'French gendarmes eventually...'

'More dogs, more fencing, more policing.'

I was watching the news on Calais because, at that time,

a lot of media was focusing on Calais.

'The new security measures at the tunnel and at the port

'have made it much more difficult for the people-smuggling gangs.'

I said, "If i go to the Jungle and I meet these people,

"I might end up like them, spending a lot of time living in the Jungle."

Which was...crazy impossible for me.

I said, "I will never, ever do it."

I don't know. I used to see on the news that,

when they show Calais, this kind of...

A jungle, a forest and a lot of migrants and people and police.

I don't know. It's not the case with me for the time being.

I don't know what's going to be waiting for me there.

It looks like...a quite peaceful city.

It's a bit chilly, but that's OK.

Oh, my God. Look, look, look!

It's the sea.

I don't know. I might be taking one of these ferries

and be heading to the UK.

See there? It's over there.

The horizon.

The mirage, it's England.

It's so close.

I can't wait, man. I can't wait to get there.

Now I need to go walk through the city to see

if somebody is willing to support, to help me.

And by someone I mean some human traffickers,

some smugglers, because this is the only way to get out of here.

Where are the smugglers? I don't know where you can find them.

You see, I prefer that you stay here and I go there.

They might be afraid, they might be worried.

They told me, "Welcome.

"Tomorrow, you will be having your lunch in London."

I said, "Wow! This is great. Please, yeah.

"Let's do it as soon as possible."

It was very, very stupid of me to believe these smugglers...

but I didn't have a choice but to believe them.

I feel relaxed because I'm near to Germany.

Just one country remains, Austria, and then to Germany.

From Germany to Sweden and from Sweden to my destination, Finland.

It is so difficult for the children.

We are young and we cannot suffer this cold weather.

For children, it is too much difficult.

BABY CRIES

Stay with your family and everybody get a bus one by one.

THEY SCREAM

THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE

THEY VOCALISE

SIRENS BLARE

-Nice city.

-Nice city. Nice place.

THEY LAUGH

It is 8:00 and we will leave here about 8:30,

to the terminal of buses,

and after that we will start moving towards Istanbul, Inshallah.

-You seem quite anxious.

-I am very nervous.

I'm heading to the cafe now, where the smugglers,

the group of smugglers, are sitting.

Feel lucky? Of course. If I'm unlucky, I cross another day.

What matters is that I'll cross.

Ciao! Wish me luck, huh?

An Egyptian smuggler...

he took us to a parking place...

..me and another seven people.

Yes, this is Calais port and I'm walking next to it.

Preparing to get in one of these ferries or trucks.

See, there's a group of people walking in front of me -

they're all migrants trying to get in.

There was a tanker full of flour.

He said, "This flour tanker is going to the UK.

"You will get there within six hours."

And the smuggler shut that circle where we slip, you know,

inside the tanker.

It was total darkness.

Imagine you are buried alive, you know? In a tanker with no air...

..nothing at all...

..because you trusted a criminal.

I started suffocating and I started losing consciousness.

We started knocking and knocking and knocking.

Ten minutes, the tanker stopped.

The driver opened the door from up there...

..and he let us out.

We were reborn again.

And the guy told us, "Look, this car is going to Italy.

"I'm going to Rome.

"If you want to go to Rome, come sit next to me. You're welcome."

It was a shock.

I was almost killed...

..for a stupid idea called the UK.

I gave it up.

'I changed my plans. I said, "I'm going to Germany."

' "Germany is a nice place."

'To Stuttgart, met my brother for the first time since 2011.'

This is my brother, Mohammad.

My other brother, Mahmud, he's staying in Berlin.

THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUGE In Berlin.

Mohammad reached last year and he speaks good German.

Ja. Ein bisschen deutsch.

I don't understand but I'm sure, maybe, in six months from now,

I will be a fluent speaker of German.

Deutschland.

-Gote morgen.

-Guten morgen.

-Guten morgen?

-Guten morgen, ja.

You see? Just 24 hours in Germany

and I've started to speak some German.

I've done my best.

I've tried and I've tried hard.

I was almost killed.

Like, in the future, why didn't you try to go to England? I did it.

I've tried and I've tried hard to go to England.

I mean, yeah...

Germany, why not?

Yeah.

Guten...

Guten tag. Guten morgen.

We cannot see. I think it's gloomy.

-Gloomy.

-Gloomy.

-It's called fog.

-Oh.

Yeah, it's gloomy.

But I hope that in Finland it should be better than this, not like this.

I like the normal weather.

I can see here the refugees.

Finland.

'In Afghanistan, Sweden is a very popular and famous country.'

And I was feeling very good that I was in Sweden, in Europe.

This is me, Sadiq, and I'm in Sweden.

It was very interesting for me.

I had a very good feeling.

'But if the European people go to Afghanistan as a refugee,

'what would happen?

'The Taliban would arrest them'

and brutally kill them, the European people.

It was a very long trip - too much long.

Er...

We started the trip this morning and now it's night.

For some guys, this bus is the last bus

because they want to stay here in Sweden.

And to get to Finland, we have a little more journey.

Maybe it takes one or two days to arrive in Finland.

OK, thank you.

-You're going to Finland?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-It's going to be cold.

-Oh.

-You want?

Yeah. Thank you, sir.

It's a cap and it's...

We have clothes in the basement, if you need.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Welcome. You need anything?

Over there you have some t-shirts and you have some jackets.

Oh, thank you.

Oh!

Let me check, maybe it's for girls.

Now I go to Finland.

'I many times told my friends, "Look how European people

' "are good and kind."

' "We are not working here. They give us everything what we want." '

This is a kind of chips.

THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE

My friend says he put milk and said he can't find yoghurt.

I said, "This is yoghurt." "Oh, I made a mistake."

HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

He said, "It is not tasty. I'm trying to eat fast to finish

"and have yoghurt." HE LAUGHS

'Many things are new for me -

'the culture, the people.

'It is completely different from Afghanistan.'

No, not tasty.

'In here is freedom. Freedom of everything.

'They don't tell us, "You must be Christian."

'And they say to us, "You are free, if you want to pray,

' "if you want to go mosque.

' "All what you want to do, you're free." '

The European people are...keeping...dogs.

They like dogs.

Everybody has a dog.

Here I realised what is equality.

Men and women have the same rights, but here I have seen.

It is great.

'Because men and women are the same.

'They are human beings.'

So just one border remains to pass and arrive in Finland.

We have passed ten countries, ten borders...

..and just one remains.

I have encouraged them to go to Finland because it is a nice place

and I have never seen any pictures from Finland.

But I know there is a nice place, I believe it.

Finland is bigger than Germany,

but the population is too little - five million.

So we want to get there to increase the population of the country.

I don't know, here is Finland or Sweden?

-Sorry, sir. Here is Sweden or Finland?

-This is Finland.

-Oh.

Yes! It is Finnish. Here is Finland.

'I had a friend who told me there's another possible route...

'to the UK.'

So I said, "All right, I mean,

"if it's not going to be an awful journey."

And he said, "It's very easy.

"You don't have to climb, you don't have to walk.

"You don't have to worry, there's no police. There's nothing.

"You just sit down and you end up in the UK."

I said, "That easy?" He said, "That easy."

I said, "This is impossible."

I tried to find something on Facebook - there was nothing -

and I was very suspicious.

From inside the port.

Now, I am under one of the lorries.

We're just waiting, so we can sneak.

'These smugglers, they've got a set of tools with them.

'They use the tools, they open the back of the lorry.

'They put us inside it and they relock it again.

'The smugglers said, "Don't move."

' "If you ever move, they will discover you,

' "then the police will come." '

'So I slept 12 hours, I thought I would wake up in the UK,

'and the car never moved.

'And was snoring.'

And it was like a train. "Come on, man.

"We are not going to lose this because of you."

The entire port could hear us. "Come on, for God's sake."

And I told him, "Look, if you ever sleep, we are fucked up."

So I had to literally sit next to him,

whenever he closed his eyes, just wake up, wake up.

'Me and my friends, we spent three full days...

'..at the back of that lorry...

'..motionless...

'..and that lorry never moved.'

I would never have ever thought of going to England

if I knew how bad Calais was.

There is nothing different between Africa and here.

To get this passport, it cost me 4,500 euros.

I kind of wish we could have done this the legal way.

I wish that there was somehow a way to get to our destinations legally.

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