10/02/2013 Reporters

slopestyle at Sochi. Now on BBC News, it's time for

Reporters. Welcome to Reporters. From here, we send out

correspondence to bring you the best stories from across the globe. This

week... Seeking sanctuary. We report from Bulgaria on the Syrian refugees

who were struggling to survive in the EU's poorest country. We are

running from Syria. We don't have money, we don't have anything. You

thought Europe would be better? I hope. Opening minds in North Korea.

Chris Rogers meets the Western lecturers teaching in some of the

most oppressive part in the world. They come with the best intentions

for the students and the country but is it wise to be educating the

future elites? And a report on the first bionic hand which can touch

and feel. This bionic hand marks and exams in prosthetics, allowing the

anti- T2 sends what they are touching and to control their grasp.

-- amputee. And fact meets fiction, as we uncovered the World War II

unit known as the monuments men. This is a list of stolen

masterpieces selected by one of the top Nazi leaders. For his own

private collection. If it hadn't have been for the monuments,

private collection. If it hadn't Have fled the desperation of the

civil war in Syria to find a century in Europe that is not the euro they

hoped for. In the past year, almost 6000 Syrian refugees arrived in

Bulgaria, the EU's poorest country, after crossing the border from

Turkey. As we report from southern Bulgaria, they found themselves

stuck in cans in a country that can vary -- barely afford to help.

In the EU's poorest country, Syrian refugees... Waiting. They have

arrived illegally from Turkey, now stuck in this camp near the border.

TRANSLATION: We have been here for up to three months already. Maybe we

will have to stay for -- for a couple of years, who knows? Names

are read out. A lucky few are finally getting them a document,

allowing them out of account. They have been waiting for months. But

they want go further, out of Bulgaria. All the people he will not

stay in Bulgaria. All of them have relatives in Europe, some people

have relatives in Germany, some in the UK, some in France. They want to

get out of the country. In the meantime, more practical problems to

deal with. Your heater has blown up? This is a British woman who retired

to a house nearby two years ago. Now she volunteers in the camp every

day. Her hotplate isn't working and she has absolutely no heater and we

have two families in here. They are families that I have a big star

against, which means they have absolutely no money, so we have to

sort things out. Quite needy. Quite a needy caravan, this one. Behind

every door, a story. This little boy was born in Europe 11 days ago.

TRANSLATION: I want him to have a good life. A good future and a good

home. Not like us. Well, it is below freezing today but people say

conditions in the camp have improved over the past couple of months. The

trouble is, they are all in limbo. They can't go back to their past

lives and they have no idea what the future might hold. It is a little

desolate and while money is now arriving from elsewhere in Europe to

make things better, it feels like more has been spent elsewhere. This

is the control room for a state-of-the-art system of thermal

cameras. Monitoring the border nearby and anyone trying to move

across it. Numbers have fallen dramatically as winter weather has

set in and, by the spring, part of the border will be fenced. But it

might stop everyone. TRANSLATION: It's a bit of a challenge for us.

You can see the Kyrenia, the weather conditions. -- to reign here. It's

not easy for the refugees either. There is a big police presence in

border villages now. They aren't keen on being filmed. But locals

have noticed the difference. TRANSLATION: -- this is an 8090

world woman. Last summer she says refugees were arriving almost every

day. -- 80 year old. She provided waffles and tea for about 60 people.

TRANSLATION: I was sitting outside the house and that appeared through

the trees with lots of children. I felt so sorry for them. But, these

days, we don't see so many. Police are everywhere. So, for now, a focus

on those already here. And in another cab, this one in the

capital, more frustration. -- camp. Authorities acknowledge things need

to move more quickly. TRANSLATION: We are doing our best but there are

many problems. The heating system isn't good enough. This used to be a

school, not a place for people to live in. This is what it looks like

inside. As you can see, this room has been cordoned off by sheets

hanging Thomas are people sleep in different sections. There are 40

people in this room alone. You can see the blackboard over here. The

electrics need work. Another 40 people live downstairs in the old

school gym. They are safe but this is not the euro they thought they

would find. We are running from Syria. We don't have money, we don't

have anything. We are coming here, it is safe. You thought Europe would

be better? Yes, I hope. It will be better. This is a good country.

Outside, some light relief in the snow. This situation is frustrating

for everyone, Syrians and Bulgarians alike. And when the snow melts, more

people will try to come. I think the government itself is organising for

at least up to 25,000 refugees but this isn't publicly stated. I think

that maybe any bigger number than that might be problematic for the

government to cope with it. In terms of infrastructure and people in

institutions. And especially when we are talking about integration. Back

near the border, cold nights and the waiting continues. This is a

challenge for the whole of Europe. How to deal with concern about

immigration and to uphold its promise to help those in need.

It's a university like no other. Largely paid for by the West but

moulding the minds of the future of elite of one of the most repressive

regimes in the world. Deep in the heart of Pyongyang, the University

is staffed by dozens of western lecturers. It says it wants students

to modernise the country and engage with the international community.

Chris Rogers has been given unprecedented access to the

university.The sons of some of the most powerful men in North Korea,

including senior military figures. Marching to Breakfast at the

Western-funded university in Pyongyang. Its goal is to equip

these students with the skills to help modernise the impoverished

country and engage with the international community. The 500

students have been hand-picked by the regime to receive a Western

education. Many are English speakers, including from the hated

enemy of America. We have been given access to film and speak with the

students, though we are constantly monitored. When you first met a

foreigner, an American, were you wary or nervous? Of course. The

first time we were nervous. American people are different from us. We

think so. We want a good relationship with all countries.

Doctor James Kim, a Korean American entrepenuer and a Christian, was

asked by the regime to build the University, based on another he

founded in China. He raised much of the ?20 million from Christian

charities. I am thankful to the government. They trusted me and gave

me authority in my hands. Operating these schools. Can you believe it?

It is hard to believe. According to human rights groups, North Korea

persecutes Christians. This British lecturer left Yorkshire to teach

business studies here. I'm sure the leaders and government recognise

that they need to connect with the outside world.

It is not possible to be a totally hermetic, closed economy. The 40

lecturers are up against a lifetime of propoganda and isolation. The

university also send selected students abroad. Three have just

returned from Westminster University. Has this unique

experience opened their minds? How different is Britain? It's a little

bit beyond my imagination. On the face of it, though. Devotion to

North Korea appears absolute. I think we have to devote ourselves to

the construction of the prostration. According to human

rights groups, that is a result of conditioning from birth and fear.

Independent estimates put the number of political prisoners in the tens

of thousands. Many held in horrific conditions in labour camps. The

teaching staff come here with the best intentions for these students

and this country. But is it right to be educating the future elite of one

of the most oppressive regimes in the world? Some human rights groups

argue no. But supporters of the University believe in the long-term

these elite students could help create a more moderate and open

North Korea. Around the world, many girls are at

risk of being subjected to the genital mutilation. It is widely

carried out by communities in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. It is

becoming a problem elsewhere. In the UK, over 60,000 women and girls have

been victims of the practice, even though it has been in the goal for

nearly 20 years. Our correspondent has more.

Two genital mutilation is a practice thinkable to the majority in the UK.

Pat McAfee mail. For people migrating here, it is an issue

ministers are having to confront. Three generations of the same family

came here from Somalia 20 years ago. This grandmother and her daughter

have been cut. The other granddaughter has been not. The

grandmother had a extreme procedure of mutilation without anaesthetics.

She was seven years old and part of a group of four girls. She couldn't

run away. They would have laughed at her. The pain would have killed her.

The blood splashed all over the operator's face. She inflicted the

mutilation on her daughter because she thought it was the Islamic thing

to do. A student and model has not had it done. She has seen it first

hand. They can physically mutilate a 6-year-old. Does it not make anybody

physically sick? She was in a documentary. She saw the effect of

mid-to-late little girls. The tamper with our gifted bodies is completely

wrong. Women are doing it to children who have no idea what is

going on. This clinic in London is one of a handful across the country

helping women who have been cut. The woman he runs it as the millet --

mutilation is child abuse. The practitioners do not see it that

way. Better it is preparing their appeals for a adulthood and a rite

of passage. -- they see it. Suntory believe it is a social obligation.

But it is not. The mutilation has been a secret problem for many

years. Young girls and women often come up to hospital with

publications. A helpline set up is helping victims. They might be

possible to charge us many cases. The first case is yet to come to

court. Upper cut -- data gathering will help. We can ship services per

people who have suffered it. We can build up the body of knowledge to

prevent it and protect girls into the future. Campaigners say the plan

is a welcome first step. Stopping people from mutilating girls is the

eventual goal. Now a breakthrough in the field of

bionics. Scientists have created a prosthetic hand which allows an

amputee to touch and feel with their fingers. The bionic device is wired

to nerves in the upper arm, sending impulses to the brain. Our

correspondent is in Switzerland to meet the scientist behind the

project. A world first for prosthetics. It is

a decade since Dennis Aabo lost his left hand in a firework accident.

Now he has what no amputee has ever achieved. His sense of touch is

restored. He is able to feel what is in his bionic hand, even when

blindfolded. The sensory feedback has been nice because I can feel the

toughness, how I grab things. And the feedback is pretty much

natural. The human hand is capable of dexterity, controlled by nerve

fibres running from the hand up to the brain. To mimic that with the

prosthetic hand, electrodes were implanted on two key nerves in the

upper arm, linked to centres in the fingers which are fed back

information to the brain about what the hand was grasping. Achieving

this was far from straightforward. A complex operation in Rome, involving

a large international team, combined microsurgery with electronics. What

followed was a month of intensive laboratory test. The results,

published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, show how

sensory feedback from hand to brain works. Scientists were impressed by

how Dennis Aabo adapted to the hand. What was interesting was the ability

of the patient to quickly learn to master this new communication

channel and use it in real time for different grasping tasks. Even if it

was only a short-term implant, it was clear for him that this could

significantly help him in future. The robotics team at this university

in Switzerland are working on how to miniaturise the electronics to

enable the bionic hand to be used outside the laboratory in everyday

life. If the technology is improved, would Dennis Aabo, now backed with

his old prosthetic hand, swap it permanently? -- back. I would say

bring it on. I'm ready. Definitely. That will take many years, but this

trial will be remembered as a milestone in bionics. It is marrying

man with machine. We go back to the Second World War.

Allied forces swept across Europe. A special unit of our experts was

formed to save heritage buildings at risk from Allied bombings and

recover masterpieces stolen by the Nazis. They became known as the

monuments men. There are the subject of a new movie with an all-star cast

led by George Clooney. But who were the real monuments men? The truth

can be exciting as fiction. We have been tasked to find and

protect out the nicest of stolen. In the Hollywood version of monuments

men, the band of expert is recruited to save heritage. We must win this

war. George Clooney plays the role of a conservation expert at Harvard

University. Most of the monuments men, he was a soldier but had no

special training for a job that will put his team and the frontlines of

World II. There was real bravery and foresight. And understanding what

happens after the war. These cultures have to rebuild. If we lose

this cultural monuments, what will we rebuild on? First, the biggest

threat came from Allied bombers. The monuments men were sent into Germany

to that military commanders who could try to avoid a direct hit.

Later, there are jobs turned to search and rescue, covering art

stolen by the Nazis, stashed across the Germany and Austria. Charles

describes finding a hall hidden in a castle. It was picturesque. A castle

on a rock. In it, everything that had been listed from the Rothschild

in Paris. -- looted. This is a list of stolen masterpieces selected by

one of the top Nazi leaders, Hermann Goering, 40s and private

collections. There are hundreds. If it hadn't been for the monuments

men, they may well have remained here. A key part of the film is the

relationship between Matt Damon's character and Cate Blanchett's

character. She decides to help them. She finally learns to trust them and

tells him were the works of art has gone. She gave them, we believe,

this photograph, folded and creased. It was carried around. It showed him

when he needed to go to find the works of art. Of the work of art is

recovered. The whereabouts of many stolen pieces are still unknown. But

the monuments men are the reason why Michelangelo's Madonna is present.

That is all from me this week. Goodbye for now.

The dry stores this week will not be long enough to help those

experiencing flooding. The risk of flooding will increase in land. The

winds will be strong. Some ice around. Both of those will be at

play this morning. The