:00:01. > :00:05.seek refuge abroad. We have gone to Greece where thousands of Syrians
:00:05. > :00:15.have made the dangerous journey to Europe only to find themselves
:00:15. > :00:19.
:00:19. > :00:26.Syrians are taking huge risks trying to get to Europe. If you're
:00:26. > :00:33.in the hands of people smugglers you have little choice. Refugees
:00:33. > :00:37.are throwing themselves into the sea... In a desperate bid to get
:00:37. > :00:42.picked up and then dumped in Greece. How much longer are you going to
:00:42. > :00:52.keep these people out here in the cold and the rain? And, even if
:00:52. > :01:19.
:01:19. > :01:27.they make it, they're likely to end Escape from Syria begins with
:01:27. > :01:30.refugees crossing the border. Here, into Turkey. They are tired and
:01:30. > :01:40.angry. There warned that accommodation in refugee camps is
:01:40. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :01:50.limited. -- they are. A fight breaks out among the men. A woman
:01:50. > :01:58.vents her frustration on us. you take photo? Two years you take
:01:58. > :02:05.photos. What are you doing? Nothing. Nothing! The people are dying.
:02:05. > :02:12.Nothing! The refugee camp on the border has a depressing look of
:02:12. > :02:22.permanence about it. Over the last two years 2 million Syrians have
:02:22. > :02:22.
:02:22. > :02:31.fled their country. And with no end to the conflict inside, you could
:02:31. > :02:38.be forgiven for wanting to rebuild their lives elsewhere -- they could.
:02:38. > :02:48.Today, the camp his fault. -- is full. And those turned away set off
:02:48. > :02:57.
:02:57. > :03:07.Some will join the tens of thousands of Syrians in Turkey who
:03:07. > :03:16.
:03:16. > :03:21.are trying to make it on their own I went to meet the Ramu family at
:03:21. > :03:31.night after the workers among them got home. The family escaped from
:03:31. > :03:55.
:03:55. > :04:04.41-year-old Mohammed, a tailor back home, has been told he's too old to
:04:04. > :04:09.find work. Two of the teenagers have jobs at a shoe warehouse. The
:04:09. > :04:19.work's OK, says 13-year-old Ahmed, but the payee is bad and there's no
:04:19. > :04:38.
:04:38. > :04:42.food for the family tonight. -- Those with money don't stay long.
:04:42. > :04:52.They leave the border area with their hopes pinned on the countries
:04:52. > :05:01.
:05:01. > :05:07.They go over 1,000 kilometres north-west to Istanbul. The ancient
:05:07. > :05:11.crossroads between East and West. And the gateway to Europe through
:05:11. > :05:16.Greece. But the Greeks are unwilling to give visas or asylum
:05:16. > :05:19.to Syrian refugees arriving at the official border crossings. It's
:05:19. > :05:23.here that the Syrian refugees must link up with the gangs of people
:05:23. > :05:30.smugglers operating in the city. They then organise a journey that
:05:30. > :05:35.will be expensive, and will involve huge risk. They start in a district
:05:35. > :05:45.of the city where they will find people they can do business with.
:05:45. > :06:15.
:06:15. > :06:25.They go west to meet up with smugglers in the Turkish border
:06:25. > :06:37.
:06:37. > :06:47.From where they cross the River The river is over one kilometre
:06:47. > :06:48.
:06:48. > :06:58.currents. The smugglers push them in rubber boats from the Turkish
:06:58. > :07:01.
:07:01. > :07:05.side. And then they are on their The Greek police gave us these
:07:05. > :07:15.pictures to illustrate how they rescue refugees who get into
:07:15. > :07:15.
:07:15. > :07:19.trouble. One family told us a very different story, though. How, to
:07:19. > :07:29.their horror, when they got to the Greek side, the police separated
:07:29. > :07:30.
:07:30. > :08:14.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 44 seconds
:08:14. > :08:21.them and push them in a boat back Many don't make it. On a hill on
:08:21. > :08:25.the Greek side there's a cemetery. 400 freshly dug individual graves
:08:26. > :08:31.of those who have died in the attempt to cross the River Evros
:08:32. > :08:41.over the last two years. Here at the end they find friends in Greece,
:08:42. > :09:00.
:09:00. > :09:04.among local Greek Muslims who bury The Greek police also publish
:09:04. > :09:14.pictures showing their search for bodies in the river. They denied
:09:14. > :09:41.
:09:41. > :09:45.pushing the refugees back. But then, Operation Shield is designed to
:09:45. > :09:51.defend the borders of Greece, Europe's front line against illegal
:09:52. > :09:56.immigration. The Greek police are helped by other European forces.
:09:56. > :10:02.Germans, Dutch, Latvians and Romanians patrolled the River area
:10:02. > :10:09.today. Where the border extends beyond the river, there's now a
:10:09. > :10:15.formidable fence. Recently finished, and designed to close a crossing
:10:15. > :10:19.once used by 90% of illegal immigrants entering Europe. A year
:10:19. > :10:23.ago this was the preferred route for Syrians trying to get into
:10:23. > :10:33.Greece. Syrians are now having to choose another and more dangerous
:10:33. > :10:43.
:10:43. > :10:47.Starting from Istanbul again, the refugees are more likely to pay to
:10:47. > :10:57.be taken by road to Turkey's western Mediterranean coast --
:10:57. > :11:06.today. From where the border with Greece runs along the Aegean Sea.
:11:06. > :11:11.It's just 12 kilometres to the nearest Greek island, Lesbos. An
:11:11. > :11:21.easy and pleasant ferry ride, if you have money, a visa, or European
:11:21. > :11:22.
:11:22. > :11:27.passport. Which is why no Syrians joined me on the journey. Back in
:11:27. > :11:37.Izmir town, the smugglers insists the Syrians begin their crossing
:11:37. > :11:57.
:11:58. > :12:03.from the Turkish side at night. -- Deysem is head of the Kurdish
:12:03. > :12:13.community in Izmir town. He was at the scene as the bodies are 66
:12:13. > :12:28.
:12:28. > :12:38.crowned Kurdish Syrians were The drownings which took place in
:12:38. > :12:42.
:12:43. > :12:46.Just a few weeks ago, Adib received a call from the coastguard at
:12:46. > :12:52.Lesbos to come and collect the bodies and belongings of his
:12:52. > :13:02.brother's family. His brother, sister-in-law and three children
:13:02. > :13:08.
:13:08. > :13:12.drowned. The body of the youngest It was while he was searching for
:13:12. > :13:22.his family that he meant survivors of boats that had also gone down. -
:13:22. > :13:45.
:13:45. > :13:49.Refugee support organisations are receiving many reports of boats
:13:49. > :13:57.being deliberately pushed back from reach into Turkish Waters, a charge
:13:57. > :14:01.that the Greek coastguard deny. But these pictures show Refugees
:14:01. > :14:04.behaving recklessly. They say the only way they can stop the
:14:04. > :14:10.coastguard from pushing them back is to scuttle their votes and hope
:14:10. > :14:15.they are rescued from the sea. -- scuttle the boat. Whatever is
:14:15. > :14:20.happening, it is certain that hundreds of people have drowned.
:14:20. > :14:29.Here, the frontiers of Greece are patrolled by the Pan European
:14:29. > :14:39.border police. Frontex. I asked the remaining crew if they pushed the
:14:39. > :14:40.
:14:40. > :14:45.boats back into Turkey. It is part of our policy not to disclose...
:14:45. > :14:50.He clearly did not want to talk about it, preferring instead to
:14:50. > :15:00.tell me how?I?� tell me how found a group of refugees who had
:15:00. > :15:19.
:15:19. > :15:29.become stranded on an uninhabited One of the refugees who lit the
:15:29. > :16:03.
:16:03. > :16:11.fire that morning takes up the Eventually, the Greek coastguard
:16:11. > :16:16.collected 40 refugees from the island. 25 Afghans and who been
:16:16. > :16:26.Syrians. They are picking up dozens every day and as summer continues,
:16:26. > :16:26.
:16:26. > :16:32.with no end to the killing in Syria, there will be many more. The
:16:32. > :16:37.Syrians are Christians who fled from ricin was some extremism. Some
:16:37. > :16:41.have families back at home and do not want to be identified. They
:16:41. > :16:51.want to go to the countries of northern Europe and a bitter that
:16:51. > :17:13.
:17:13. > :17:23.Volunteer doctors check the new arrivals. There have been recent
:17:23. > :17:27.
:17:27. > :17:30.cases of tuberculosis. Bizarrely, a consignment of footwear arrives.
:17:30. > :17:34.But the Syrians and Afghans have been here that will hours and
:17:34. > :17:39.neither food nor shelter has been offered by the authorities. Why,
:17:39. > :17:44.when they knew they were coming, is everybody so on but had? I cannot
:17:44. > :17:50.find any explanation. There is no reason why we are so are prepared,
:17:50. > :17:57.so confused, why we are not doing anything for them. I think it is a
:17:57. > :18:03.political choice to be like this. The authorities are trying to deter
:18:03. > :18:10.future refugees from coming to Greece but in the meantime, Efi
:18:10. > :18:17.Lasoudi, who co-ordinates local volunteers says people need to be
:18:17. > :18:27.looked after. Sometimes it can be 80 people, sometimes 100. What can
:18:27. > :18:28.
:18:28. > :18:32.we do? Some weeks ago, we had 86 people. Women, children, pregnant
:18:32. > :18:39.women. And they were all sleeping there in the rain and we were
:18:39. > :18:43.trying to feed them. They get their first meal in 24 hours but there is
:18:43. > :18:49.still no news of shelter. Heavy rain is forecast and most of this
:18:49. > :18:58.place in the one van provided is taken by families with children.
:18:58. > :19:02.The new arrivals have been soaked at sea and now get they separate
:19:02. > :19:05.drenching. -- now get an extra drenching. I ask the coastguard
:19:05. > :19:10.what is happening. If how much longer will you keep these people
:19:10. > :19:14.out in the cold and rain? Have you told then what distress these
:19:14. > :19:20.people are in? It will get colder as the night progresses. If they
:19:20. > :19:27.are coming. Someone is coming to help? Yes.They will take them away
:19:27. > :19:32.for the night? Yes? Going somewhere. Somewhere to sleep.
:19:32. > :19:42.But nobody comes to collect them and they settle down on the
:19:42. > :19:43.
:19:43. > :19:48.waterfront for an uncomfortable night.
:19:48. > :19:58.They are locked in, just metres from the bright lights of the city.
:19:58. > :20:07.
:20:08. > :20:11.It is one of the most popular holiday islands of Greece. Refugees
:20:11. > :20:17.have been held on the island what seems like these witnessed by
:20:17. > :20:25.tourists have brought harsh criticism from the UN and EU. As a
:20:25. > :20:29.result, there have been some changes. Two weeks after arriving,
:20:29. > :20:37.the Afghans have to stay. But the Syrians have been taken on to an
:20:37. > :20:41.overnight ferry for a crossing to the mainland. From there, they go
:20:41. > :20:50.on to Athens. For the majority who make it this far, the road ends in
:20:50. > :20:54.the Greek capital. There, things can get worse.
:20:54. > :20:58.Golden Dawn, a party with an anti- immigration agenda, is the third
:20:58. > :21:06.most popular in Greece today, with support among a people reduced by
:21:06. > :21:10.austerity measures and with little sympathy for outside as he need
:21:10. > :21:20.help. -- outsiders who need help. The party has been blamed for
:21:20. > :21:20.
:21:20. > :21:30.recent attacks on immigrants. After two attempts, she and her family
:21:30. > :21:37.
:21:37. > :21:40.got across the river to Athens but now they face another threat. Like
:21:40. > :21:45.all Syrians, they do not want to stay. They gave all the money they
:21:45. > :21:55.had left to another people smuggler for safe passports to get them to
:21:55. > :22:16.
:22:16. > :22:20.The family is now stranded in a one-room apartment paid for by the
:22:20. > :22:29.Syrian community here. The all the boys do not dare leave the
:22:29. > :22:38.apartment for fear of arrest. -- the older boys. All those found
:22:38. > :22:41.entering the country illegally are detained. This man had made it
:22:41. > :22:51.across a river, barely escaping with his life, but was picked up at
:22:51. > :23:08.
:23:08. > :23:18.a cafe in Athens and was taken to He was held for weeks in prison and
:23:18. > :23:35.
:23:35. > :23:39.then transferred to a detention Thousands of Syrians have been
:23:39. > :23:45.arrested and detained in Greece over the last few years. Only two
:23:45. > :23:50.out of the hundreds who have applied have been given asylum. A
:23:50. > :23:54.European Commission report recently said that the conditions endured by
:23:54. > :24:04.Syrians in Greece are unacceptable. The Greek government says that they
:24:04. > :24:37.
:24:38. > :24:47.A constant plea I heard from Syrians to the Greeks is, if you
:24:48. > :25:16.
:25:16. > :25:21.will not help us, at least let us It is the misfortune for those