:00:00. > :00:00.We should warn you that the programme contains some
:00:00. > :00:22.Hello and welcome to a special edition of Reporters.
:00:23. > :00:26.I'm Chris Morris on the Greek island of Lesbos.
:00:27. > :00:29.In a range of reports, we will be focusing on a year that
:00:30. > :00:35.saw the biggest influx of people into Europe since World War II.
:00:36. > :00:44.Matthew Price follows thousands of refugees arriving here in Lesbos
:00:45. > :00:52.Gabriel Gatehouse gets a close-up view of the rescue
:00:53. > :01:07.There are 250 people crammed down here.
:01:08. > :01:15.The world's dissed exporters of refugees. Jeremy Brown reports from
:01:16. > :01:20.Syria on having that is driving the migrant crisis. The immense movement
:01:21. > :01:26.of people caused by war will continue to pose challenges for
:01:27. > :01:33.your, perhaps for years, because this war has a lot of killing in it.
:01:34. > :01:38.Jonathan head reports on south-east Asia's migrant crisis as thousands
:01:39. > :01:44.of Muslims were left stranded. They have been cast adrift. They have
:01:45. > :01:47.told people on the phone they had no food or water and are in terrible
:01:48. > :01:48.shape at the moment. They are begging for help.
:01:49. > :01:51.And Fergal Keane meets one 16-year-old who has made
:01:52. > :02:00.the 3,500 kilometre journey from Syria to Germany.
:02:01. > :02:09.I want to find William and meet the Queen!
:02:10. > :02:12.The world changed in 2015, as long-running conflicts in Syria,
:02:13. > :02:16.Eritrea, Afghanistan and other parts of the world forced
:02:17. > :02:20.thousands of people to flee their homes in search of a better life.
:02:21. > :02:23.Nearly one million people entered Europe by sea,
:02:24. > :02:27.creating the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.
:02:28. > :02:32.EU ministers agreed a plan to relocate around 120,000
:02:33. > :02:37.refugees across Europe in September but it has not had much impact yet.
:02:38. > :02:41.Greece became a focal point for migrants fleeing from the Middle
:02:42. > :02:45.East and North Africa as they made their way towards Central Europe.
:02:46. > :02:49.Matthew Price sent this report as the EU deal was agreed and thousands
:02:50. > :03:06.This is what it feels like to survive.
:03:07. > :03:17.Almost overwhelmed by the waves and then overwhelmed with relief.
:03:18. > :03:23.It is the scale of this crisis that has
:03:24. > :03:31.The remains of this great migration litter the coastline here.
:03:32. > :03:35.A life jacket left behind by every person who has made this dangerous
:03:36. > :04:01.Six drown in these waters every day and now the weather has turned.
:04:02. > :04:08.That did not slow them today, but it did chill them to the bone.
:04:09. > :04:16.One is the instability, the wars on the other side of the water
:04:17. > :04:23.But what is drawing them and helping them is an increasingly complex
:04:24. > :04:26.smuggling network that gets them across this short stretch of water.
:04:27. > :04:44.European politicians have not so far come up with a response to that.
:04:45. > :04:50.On the worst days, parts of Lesbos become a stinking, sprawling refugee
:04:51. > :04:52.camp. Almost all of them tell us they're
:04:53. > :05:03.leaving war and violence behind. Some say they just want
:05:04. > :05:10.a better life. Where do they want to go? Germany.
:05:11. > :05:17.Germany. Germany. Today's deal
:05:18. > :05:19.in Brussels will see them Some in Europe will be angered
:05:20. > :05:22.by that. Others will think it is
:05:23. > :05:26.the right thing to do. But it will not bring
:05:27. > :05:34.an end to this mass movement. The sheer number of lifejackets
:05:35. > :05:36.abandoned on this beach gives you some idea of the scale
:05:37. > :05:41.of what has been happening here, but the migration crisis has not
:05:42. > :05:44.just been about the Greek islands. Tens of thousands
:05:45. > :05:46.of people have crossed the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean
:05:47. > :05:51.between Libya and Italy. It is about eight times the width
:05:52. > :05:53.of the English Channel Fine if you're on a luxury liner
:05:54. > :05:59.but not if you are packed onto What happens on those vessels is
:06:00. > :06:14.usually kept well away from the Gabriel Gatehouse has spent time
:06:15. > :06:18.on a boat owned by a private American charity to get some idea
:06:19. > :06:21.of what it is like to cross It is mid-morning when
:06:22. > :06:26.the search and rescue team aboard the Phoenix catch sight of the first
:06:27. > :06:29.boat, a blue smudge on the horizon. It is a wooden vessel designed to
:06:30. > :06:33.carry around one dozen fishermen but there are 560 migrants
:06:34. > :06:35.on board here, half of them crammed What we are doing is deliberately
:06:36. > :06:40.approaching the boat not That is to stop everyone
:06:41. > :06:46.from rushing over to one side The boat is so overpacked that one
:06:47. > :07:10.false movement could capsize it. Sitdown! Most of these people are
:07:11. > :07:19.from Eritrea. Most of them can't swim. With hundreds of bird is very,
:07:20. > :07:30.the operation takes hours. -- about this ferry.
:07:31. > :07:33.On the deck of the migrant boat, the last remaining men are still
:07:34. > :07:36.waiting anxiously amid the few abandoned belongings of those who
:07:37. > :07:42.But below deck, conditions were far worse.
:07:43. > :07:48.There were 250 people crammed down here and you can see that there
:07:49. > :07:56.You can imagine people here for hours on end crammed in together
:07:57. > :08:01.As the day wears on, more vessels appear.
:08:02. > :08:04.By noon, there are more than 2,500 people adrift around us.
:08:05. > :08:07.Ships from various European navies are
:08:08. > :08:18.The migrants themselves will all be taken back to Sicily.
:08:19. > :08:21.What happens to them then is a matter of heated political debate
:08:22. > :08:44.and of huge uncertainty for those desperate to make Europe their home.
:08:45. > :08:49.Some European nations to tougher action to stem the flow of migrants
:08:50. > :08:55.and refugees arriving on beaches like this. Hungary built a huge
:08:56. > :09:00.border fence, while while others decided that only those from Syria,
:09:01. > :09:03.Iraq and Afghanistan would be able to cross their borders. There were
:09:04. > :09:08.angry protests in Greece at the Macedonian border as hundreds of
:09:09. > :09:16.people tried to cross North. I was there as Greek riot police fired
:09:17. > :09:21.tear gas into the crowd. Motherboard, another damning
:09:22. > :09:26.indictment Europe's migration to see. Macedonia has only been
:09:27. > :09:30.allowing Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans enter from Greece. In response,
:09:31. > :09:34.migrants other countries have blocked the border crossing. There
:09:35. > :09:42.is tension and then this, confusion, screams, tear gas. Police
:09:43. > :09:45.have fired tear gas and as you can see, they are pulling people out of
:09:46. > :09:51.the crowd right next to the border one by one. They seem determined to
:09:52. > :09:54.clear this area, come what may. They have come this far and refused to go
:09:55. > :10:01.back. Even if the EU wants to deport have come this far and refused to go
:10:02. > :10:03.back. Even if the EU wants to them. When the dust settles, the police
:10:04. > :10:11.from Iran, refusing to move. Please from Iran, refusing to move. Please
:10:12. > :10:15.help us. Please help us. Not far away, Syrian refugees fleeing from
:10:16. > :10:20.the civil war are now stranded in a field, unable to continue their
:10:21. > :10:25.journey. The strain is showing. They are exhausted. More than 40 busloads
:10:26. > :10:32.have arrived since the border was blocked. Week 's league here in cold
:10:33. > :10:38.and without water, without food. We have children. We feel afraid, so
:10:39. > :10:44.afraid. We are dying here. We are freezing. We have family here. I
:10:45. > :10:47.have my wife here. The UN is now struggling to provide for thousands
:10:48. > :10:53.of people stop here. Is hardly safe to distribute food. Greece has asked
:10:54. > :10:58.for more from the EU but European policy has come to this. Stalemate
:10:59. > :11:05.in the borderlands, recriminations and yet more arrivals every day. So
:11:06. > :11:09.where are all the refugees coming from? Many are fleeing conflict and
:11:10. > :11:16.persecution in places like Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea, but the
:11:17. > :11:19.majority come from Syria. The UN has described Assyria as the biggest
:11:20. > :11:26.exporter of refugees in the world. -- has described Syria. Are only
:11:27. > :11:29.going sent this report from inside Syria and how the war is fuelling
:11:30. > :11:38.the migrant crisis. You may find some of the images in this report
:11:39. > :11:42.distressing. This is Yarmouk's skeleton. It was a Palestinian
:11:43. > :11:54.refugee camp for families forced out of Israel in another Road. No
:11:55. > :11:59.civilians are left on the side. Is -- 400m away, a jihadist from
:12:00. > :12:06.Al-Qaeda and Islamic State and thousands of trapped civilians.
:12:07. > :12:13.Europe is waking up belatedly to the consequences of having a major war,
:12:14. > :12:20.a series of wars, right on its doorstep. The men's movement of
:12:21. > :12:27.people caused by war will continue to pose big challenges. -- the
:12:28. > :12:31.immense movement of people. And this war has a lot of killing left in it.
:12:32. > :12:39.The Middle East is knocking on Europe's doors and it is not going
:12:40. > :12:46.to go away. The beaches in Latakia, on Syria's Mediterranean coast,
:12:47. > :12:53.could be in a different country. Children still play in the waves
:12:54. > :12:59.here, instead of dying in them. For the well-off, the sea is for fun,
:13:00. > :13:05.not escape. Latakia is the provincial capital and the regime
:13:06. > :13:08.stronghold. Because it is relatively safe, its population is more than
:13:09. > :13:14.doubled as it has absorbed 1.6 million Syrians who are refugees in
:13:15. > :13:23.their own country. That is twice as many as Germany is taking. 7000 are
:13:24. > :13:30.at account in the sports centre. -- a camp. They are well looked after.
:13:31. > :13:42.The refugee crisis is created and driven by war. This woman fled here
:13:43. > :13:46.after Idlib, another provincial capital, fell to the rebels in
:13:47. > :13:50.March. Her eldest son was killed fighting for the Syrian army and
:13:51. > :13:57.another son was badly wounded. She escaped with her husband and five
:13:58. > :14:04.youngest children. TRANSLATION: We started running. We passed by armed
:14:05. > :14:10.groups but thank God, they did not recognise us. I saw with my own eyes
:14:11. > :14:14.that they were butchering a man and playing with his head. And ran away
:14:15. > :14:23.with my children and for a week they could not stop crying and had
:14:24. > :14:29.nightmares. At the military hospital in Latakia, they judge the ferocity
:14:30. > :14:33.of the fighting by the number of Syrian army casualties they
:14:34. > :14:36.receive. Among hundreds of thousands of wounded, one estimate is 80,000
:14:37. > :14:41.Syrian army soldiers have been killed. That is more than the
:14:42. > :14:45.regular fighting strength of the British Army. This soldier did not
:14:46. > :14:52.want to be identified. He lost his arm when Idlib fell. TRANSLATION:
:14:53. > :14:56.I'm in pain and my mother cannot know that. I do not want her to
:14:57. > :15:04.worry about the. One revenue and I will go to see her. -- once I have
:15:05. > :15:10.got a new arm. In this village, everyone turned out for the funeral
:15:11. > :15:14.of a man killed on the frontline. They are Alawites from the same
:15:15. > :15:18.religious background as the President. Syrian army attacks often
:15:19. > :15:29.create more refugees and so do advances from jihadist. War makes
:15:30. > :15:30.people flee for their lives. After the last fusillade, they reported
:15:31. > :15:43.back to their units. Faraway from this European crisis
:15:44. > :15:47.came news of a humanitarian disaster in South East Asia. Thousands of
:15:48. > :15:51.people fleeing persecution in Bangladesh and Myanmar were trapped
:15:52. > :15:57.on boats in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. They were trying to
:15:58. > :16:02.reach safety in neighbouring countries. Indonesia, Malaysia,
:16:03. > :16:09.Thailand. Of those countries were refusing to let them in. Our
:16:10. > :16:12.correspondent tracked down one boat in Thai waters which was packed with
:16:13. > :16:15.refugees. As we approach the stricken vessel, cries of
:16:16. > :16:20.desperation and distress carry across the water. We had heard there
:16:21. > :16:24.were boats packed with migrants out here on the Andaman Sea but fighting
:16:25. > :16:31.-- finding them was a real challenge. Finally, we had tracked
:16:32. > :16:36.on down. This is incredible. We have heard about this boat for the last
:16:37. > :16:39.five or six days. They had been cast adrift. They have told people on the
:16:40. > :16:42.phone they have no food and water and they are in terrible shape at
:16:43. > :16:47.the moment. They are begging for help. They are in Thai waters but
:16:48. > :16:50.they have had no help, no supplies, but close to a week. There are
:16:51. > :16:57.plenty of women and children on board. These people may have been at
:16:58. > :16:59.sea for close to three months and they are begging for help and we
:17:00. > :17:04.believe there are many more vessels like this out on the sea at the
:17:05. > :17:10.moment. 15-year-old Mohammed shouted his story from the stern. They had
:17:11. > :17:15.been abandoned by the crew six days ago, they told us. The engine no
:17:16. > :17:21.longer work properly. These are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar,
:17:22. > :17:25.unwanted and persecuted in their own country, and they're not wanted
:17:26. > :17:30.anywhere else either. The Thai navy is offering to help and to find
:17:31. > :17:39.other last vessels but will they let the Rohingya stay? In the past, they
:17:40. > :17:44.have simply pushed them back out to accurately, a hard-line approach
:17:45. > :17:50.shared by neighbouring countries. We still have no idea what will become
:17:51. > :17:55.of these people. We gave them everything we had but after so long
:17:56. > :18:02.that sea, they need a lot more. They need proper shelter, medical care,
:18:03. > :18:11.and they need somewhere they can call home. Back in Europe and back
:18:12. > :18:18.on Lesbos, many of the people arriving here want to go to Germany.
:18:19. > :18:22.Fergal Keane followed the story of a 16-year-old girl, Noujaine, who
:18:23. > :18:25.travelled more than 3,000 kilometres from Syria to Germany, where she
:18:26. > :18:34.There are big plans being made now but nobody really knows how or
:18:35. > :18:37.when this will end or if any EU plan can prevent
:18:38. > :18:44.the arrival of tens of thousands seeking a new life in Europe.
:18:45. > :18:56.Like Noujaine, who we first met on the Hungarian border, trying to find
:18:57. > :19:04.You should fight for what you want in this world, so it is a journey
:19:05. > :19:09.for a new life. A disabled
:19:10. > :19:11.16-year-old with big dreams. But Europe, including Britain,
:19:12. > :19:19.would prefer Syrian refugees That is why one billion euros have
:19:20. > :19:23.been pledged to help countries like Turkey, from where Noujaine set out
:19:24. > :19:44.to try and reach Germany with her In Turkey, everybody wants to kick
:19:45. > :19:46.you out of the country. I don't feel welcome. By the time we met her
:19:47. > :19:51.again three days later, she and her sister had been detained in
:19:52. > :19:56.Slovenia. I'm a prisoner, so it is not good. Europe is struggling to
:19:57. > :20:00.find a coherent response to the crisis. People were pushed from
:20:01. > :20:06.border to border or held in centres like this. This is another way
:20:07. > :20:13.station on the long, long journey that so many of these people have
:20:14. > :20:16.made and that is the way station on Europe's trail of failure to deal
:20:17. > :20:20.with this crisis. Desperate to get to Germany, there is one simple
:20:21. > :20:27.problem. Any government that says yes to her coming will be faced with
:20:28. > :20:32.questions from many other people demanding why not them. That same
:20:33. > :20:36.day, she and her sister were moved to another camp in Slovenia with
:20:37. > :20:42.other refugees and migrants. Do you know where you are going? No. Where
:20:43. > :20:47.will they send you after this? I don't know. Don't ask me. But human
:20:48. > :20:49.rights activists pressure the government and she was released.
:20:50. > :20:52.And here she is at the end of her nearly 4,000-mile journey on a train
:20:53. > :21:13.I have heard a lot from refugees and migrants about what Europe can give
:21:14. > :21:23.to them but let me ask you, what can your family give to Europe?
:21:24. > :21:26.TRANSLATION: The most important thing that we can give here is to
:21:27. > :21:34.Here in northern Germany, Noujaine is on her way to apply for asylum.
:21:35. > :21:39.As a Syrian refugee, she has a good chance.
:21:40. > :21:43.Noujaine was born with cerebral palsy.
:21:44. > :21:46.She believes that advanced medical help here could enable her to walk.
:21:47. > :21:53.I came to the right place and hopefully they will help me.
:21:54. > :21:56.When you look into the future, do you ever see a day
:21:57. > :21:59.when you might bring your gifts, the great gift of inspiration that
:22:00. > :22:04.you have, you might bring that back to Syria, to your people?
:22:05. > :22:15.It will take a long, long time before Syria gets back up.
:22:16. > :22:33.Yes, she will. I'm sure of that.
:22:34. > :22:36.But many millions have already abandoned Syria,
:22:37. > :22:39.and a nation that loses a child like Noujaine is losing its best.
:22:40. > :22:43.That is all from the special edition of Reporters, focusing
:22:44. > :23:04.Hello. This is Breakfast, with Jon Kay and Steph McGovern.
:23:05. > :23:08.Rail fares go up by just over 1% from today.