Transcripts For DW Focus On Europe - Spotlight On People 20190307

Islamic state has lost vast swathes of territory and u. S. Backed troops are close to recapturing the terror groups last remaining stronghold of bad news germany is home to some seven hundred thousand syrians many of whom came here to find refuge from the war well even though the war appears to be drawing to a close many syrians dont expect to find peace upon their return there a brutal regime of Bashar Al Assad is by all accounts still in power and many syrians in europe are worried about what prizes the government will take against those who fled the war one of them is i mean but for German Authorities the threat he may face from damascus and its secret service doesnt make him a new to the rules. Yes this syrian family lives in a small apartment somewhere in germany we wont say where exactly nor use their real names. The father lives in fear of the regime in syria which they fled in twenty seventeen. Im wanted for military service and syria is not a safe place. Its difficult very difficult. The father says you can be sent to jail for dodging military service in syria well call him i mean he says hes seen too much fighting and dying in his home city of day it is sort of seeing pictures of it brings back the memories. The thing for her to do when i remember what happened in syria the shelling of seeing children dying when bombs were dropped on my hometown digging the children out from underneath the rubble. With these scenes remind me of the horrible things in my past. And how my children would hide under the stairs or in the cupboards if they saw a plane in the sky ready to drop bombs in the they become but that that my children have witnessed horrible things. I mean has no proof that he was to be drafted he says he lost the papers on the way to europe along with his old passport. Its one reason his application for asylum was rejected. But he and his family can stay in germany as war refugees until the fighting in syria ends no the German Authorities want them to apply for valid syrian passports at the Syrian Embassy in they can receive longer residence permits in german travel documents but i mean refuses to go on im up in that i cant go to the embassy even if theres no immediate danger enough im wanted for conscription and i cant go to the embassy because that would endanger the lives of my family and the. Hundreds of people do go to the Syrian Embassy in berlin every day for travel documents many of them like i mean are war refugees with no right to asylum the legal term is persons with subsidiary protection status german legal experts say they can be expected to go to the embassy. I dont believe anyone with subsidiary protection status has anything to fear for him before theyre not being persecuted personally. If they were allowed to be here because a civil war is raging in syria united brewer who one house with syrian human rights lawyer and we are all goonies says many who come here are afraid also for their relatives back in syria especially if they belong to the opposition Syrian Intelligence tries to glean information about contacts with the regimes opponents from embassy visitors. If someone refuses to answer questions them tonight a passport. So that the people. Who. Send this information. Going to think syria so its. Them for the future is there them saying its appropriate for their parents in syria who. Brought. It is the embassy in Berlin Operating on behalf of syrias secret service we confronted its head of mission with the allegations he denied them health im at the mountains who has any syrian whos been here so far stated that he was questioned about anything beyond his own passport matter sides. We dont do that oh we dont collect any personal information we only require the documents that are needed to establish the applicants identity. I mean doesnt believe that he wants no contact with syrian authorities whether for passports or any other documents for himself or his family even if it means Serious Problems with finding work in germany or traveling. I wouldnt know what to do if the Foreigners Registration Office didnt renew my residency or give me german travel documents a month i still would not go to the embassy. So i means in his familys future in germany is uncertain their greatest fear is having to return to syria even after the fighting is over because the old regime may still be in power. But. The great city of el use this was once a sacred site of antiquity located beside the Mediterranean Sea it is home to one of the countrys greatest archaeological sites well today its known as l. F. Zina and is now famous for the dozens of abandoned ships that litter the coastline and its port it will be a Herculean Task for port manager shah alam both to restore its beauty and while hercules fought monsters shara landless has to contend with something equally as frightening bureaucracy. These ships once carry passengers oil grain or contraband cigarettes when they will no longer see where the they were abandoned here illegally. The gulf of any of siena is the ugly junkyard of greece a country that looks back over a long seafaring tradition. Here are numbers go getters has been head of it have seen as Port Authority for most a year now. But he feels immense frustration because his port is still a graveyard with dozens of rusty wrecks. Well this boards they couldnt work anymore or their car there hes used it with along. The way to come here and they were just leaving it. There more than forty wrecks lying dormant off in of ciena most above water but sun submerged. And many of them carry toxic cargoes of waste oil and tar that threaten to pollute the gulf for years to come. Now the greek government has promised to act and appointed gaga directors to head the cleanup. Of these foods they dont have any more legal on the owners of the lease of bill would come from the dont exist for relatives on the east or relatives say they dont want to farm anything to do the books to go with these boards cutting them and send them to. The for scrap from of the big. Environmental activists christers christakis says greece has no suitable salvage facilities hes watching the current flurry of activity with suspicion he has fought for years to end the disfigurement of this section of the coast but says the authorities not only ignore the problem but even dubbed chips here themselves. After. A hard meet is the nor one it was detained by the coast guard in two thousand and fourteen with more than two tons of heroin on board. So forth back then that was the biggest drug haul in europe. It was confiscated and then they just left it there. If the ships are dismantled now i fear it will be done without consideration for the environment in the past ships were taken apart myspace and the remains just covered with sand. Christakis used to go swimming here when he was a child he asks is it credible that officials will really dispose of these colossal wrecks if they cant even clear the garbage off the beach. This is hes mejor gets a color says end of scene and used to be an important Industrial Site with jobs for the entire region. Since greeces financial crisis the situation on land isnt much better than in the water one industrial ruin after another. But these ruins at least give the mayor some hope for the citys future and if sina has been named one of the european capitals of culture for twenty twenty one. So can us wants to stage Theatre Productions and art shows on these grounds and by then he wants the rex to big on. The about to be about we intend to follow the example of the rural region in germany. Are there the selection as capital of culture lead to the Old Industrial areas being turned into a ribbon of green spaces with many cultural attractions. Really but what we dont want to see. Is new records dumped here now after the celebrations are over. Put direct to god it says that is the responsibility of the coast guard. He is still struggling through a mountain of paperwork to finally dispose of the first wreck. The result you could see is this papers on the table here. And from valve you can understand that this. Is a. Four to five months at least the people here who are twelve fourteen i would have to be fifty now i would have to take all the. Projects ready. One problem is that many of these abandoned ships are not registered in greece but in panama or the bahamas that means a worldwide search for the only use. So it may be years before the gulf of and of siena gets its old spark. Imagine opening a letter one day that says you are going to receive five hundred sixty year olds every month from the government no Strings Attached its yours to spend as you please well thats precisely what happened to you how you have been in finland he was invited to take part in the countrys basic income experiment two years ago we join you and his family at the start of the groundbreaking project well it has now come to an end and the government is reviewing the data so can money buy happiness is a question you have has been called to answer. On the outside this Old School House in western finland presents a picturesque nordic winter scene. Inside its the setting for a social experiment on a grand scale. You hi yeah villain has been receiving a basic monthly income from the state for two years now hes headed for helsinki to tell about his experiences in a Panel Discussion at the finnish parliament. Wherever he goes he takes his camera but with a basic income oh my land i know. Im actually quite open to everything. And when im on the train ill have to think about what i want to say. And how i can make the best use of the fifteen minutes im allowed to speak. So a lot less so i can leave the audience with a little food for thought since then i. Met them on the other. We visited you half for the first time some two years ago at his home near could. He specializes in hand carving and crafting some mines drums at that time it was more a hobby than a trade. To get one of the cool of his wife is a nurse they live with six children and a dog. We were interested to see how life had changed for them since that day in autumn twenty sixteen when this letter arrived. And i hauled in. I was waiting for the mail nine nine that when i saw the letter even before i opened it i knew it was from the Social Security agency only got a moment to help the letter in my hands i really started cheering. For you hard getting the basic income was like winning the lottery he had plans to start an agency for accommodation and studios for artists called art b. And b. But it hasnt been very successful so far as you have sees it you have to try things out and the basic income gave him the freedom to do just that. Helsinki back in january twenty seventeen finlands government selected two thousand people to receive five hundred sixty euros a month for two years as an experiment that made world headlines. And the Panel Discussion you had needs i love another recipient she and the others will. Interviewed over the coming months by the Social Security agency its really interesting to hear the pats fans of the experience because we researchers were not aware of the contacts first people so everything i know what they have been through i threat from newspapers and heard from them so its really interesting and different kind of stories theres two thousand participants everybody has a very unique story for the recipients are here this evening to tell their stories is up first shes long term unemployed and suffering from cancer now she dreads having to live without the basic income me more than i want to but in a minute i notice change for the worse now im treated like this again like i was two years ago. Or. I have to beg for everything and everything takes forever. The payments used to come on the first of the month now the money arrives whenever your skills so whatever aha. I lie says the basic income had restored some sense of dignity for her thats over now. I think youre. Ok anybody feel like i guess ill a speech touch me the most alone and she really has to struggle to get by every single day. Especially now that shes been officially listed as unemployed again since early january and. Now its all starting over again for her with all this bureaucracy and a bit of all crap the. Back in u. His workshop the basic income experiment was controversial the governments already trying a new experiments where the monthly allowance only goes to people who are active if only in Community Service so in a sense you how well have to live from his drums but hes optimistic. During the two years with the basic income i was able to invest in new tools. Now i can make the drums ten times faster than i could two years ago. When his wife said work looks after the children a steady job wouldnt be much help to him he has to be able to put the drums aside to prepare meals for everyone you have doesnt believe money buys happiness anyway in such an isolated spot you can live very modestly. Im afraid the future looks fairly uncertain for my children thats another reason why i want to do something to ensure they in particular and the coming generations in general will have a somewhat Better Future wars. Power generation is responsible for finding solutions to. The initial basic income experiment is over as far as you have is concerned it was successful hes now working toward getting by without money from the state but how about the other recipients the finnish government will be assessing the results until the end of this year to find out. Now to a russian horror fairy tale thats how the experimental electronic band i speak describes their work their lyrics are political their videos are provoke a tiff and that has put the band on the kremlins radar president Vladimir Putin is cracking down on music critical of his government bans like i speak are popular with teenagers in provincial russia who long for more freedom and opportunities we caught up with i speak in rozanne as they wrapped up their latest tour. Their rebellious and popular i speak is on stage and for the final concert of their russia tour the song sad bitch is clearly an audience favorite here because. Its an anthem against off already elitism and conformism songs like this one have made the author already in russia suspicious of i speak the band say they shut down more than half of their concerts on their recent russia tour the musicians were searched in question several times. To be sure youre still in the journey it felt completely surreal we sing a few songs from the secret services chase us through the whole city teachers who misuse the yes some of our songs do have a political message he misses your country but the political stuff is such a small percentage of our work force so you think to yourself what would happen if we were actually a Political Group which means were just that they wouldnt let us perform at all. Kerosene and to my eyes the whole of russia is watching me let it burn lyrics and videos like this one are intentionally provocative here the duo poses in front of the seat of the russian government and on the shoulders of the riot police. And i speak isnt the only young group that has had problems with the off the words last year over forty concerts were canceled its a crackdown that has shaken the russian music scene but also created a huge sense of solidarity at the end of two thousand and eighteen dozens of musicians took to the stage in moscow to protest against the tough stance of the kremlin. These absurd things can happen to other musicians they can easily happen to any of us. Lately there seems to be an unspoken rule for musicians if you so much as touch on politics youll have problems. This situation would make any musicians want to write about it it politicizes people who otherwise wouldnt be interested in political protest at all. Bloody near putin seems to have understood that as well and has signaled a change in the kremlin strategy the russian president wants his administration to come up with new plans to support Youth Culture by september. Which of the round another modern music is based on three pillars are sex drugs and protest but just. The drugs are our biggest concern of course you missed. It to they clearly lead to a degradation of the entire society see. If this music is impossible to stop then we will have to lead and directed properly but i will it however tries to lead and direct observers say the kremlin will do all in its power to ensure the discontent doesnt turn into a protest movement. But what weve seen so far is an attempt by the kremlin to label anything they dont understand as nonexistent useless and wrong but now the main thing for them is to reestablish communication with young people to understand what they want and how to deal with that. I was. Part of the problems the group had with the police has led some parents to accompany their kids to the concert most of the fans here say they identify with i speaks lyrics theyre often about a sense of hopelessness of. Their lives in an effort i can really relate to this music i think it reflects my reality here i know exactly what they mean right there you know the fact that the government is cracking down on this group doesnt solve the problems theyre singing about it could lead to protests just to the right. I think it was the day of the band can clearly relate to the worries and realities of their young fans many of them say they dont feel the kremlin understands them anymore at all. I mean here she just in the government has decided to correct Youth Culture to somehow bend it back into its old shape but the process cant be stopped anymore and we certainly wont censor ourselves. Now we want to be even harsher more radical and interesting. You cant ban music the fans chant in between songs at the concert. I speak stark and sarcastic music has clearly touched a nerve with Young Russians and their difficulties with the author worries of gotten them a lot of publicity instead of silencing them it has made them one of the voices of a new generation the kremlin is now pushing to connect words. Sport is a universal language that can unite people and transcend barriers and it is with this spirit that the little vatican state has launched its first ever Athletics Team nuns and priests can now be seen running through the italian capital of rome for them its a divine experience one they hope will take them to the olympics for the Catholic Church its a Welcome Change of headlines. A race in the italian capital rome. But first a quick prayer on the vatican now has a newly founded sports Club Athletic about to qana it brings together priests nuns and others from the better considered state this is its very first competition event in video but its like a baptism with this rain im very excited to be taking part and running for this club for the first time but theyre going to put up a member of the message at the mean i coax im not running because it gives you a sense of harmony. And it is a form of prayer. That running with others is like taking holy communion. And then finally theres a signal and there are not let it come out economy was set up in january this year by dominican sister not the teo and others she used to run half marathons by herself but now enjoys being part of a team you know steve when i run i wear track season t. Shirt just like everyone else thats really comfortable i dont you know when youre done tiffany hoshi is a member of the pontifical swiss guard for him being part about letting about economy means more than just aiming for a top athletic performance. You cut me want to spread christianity weve got to migrants on the t. V. You know were not just aiming for a good performance but were also running in the spirit of being good christians so its beneath the echo is that when you when you. The club trains in the vicinity of st peters basilica theres no race track and no resolute coach either even so the team is highly competitive. Completes the ten kilometers in under thirty six minutes and not as pleased with her result to. The first medal for none. Now the athletes are dreaming about representing the vatican city in the olympic games. Well we wish them a blessing journey to the olympics godspeed thats all for this week on focus on europe you can also watch our program on line i d w dot com and feel free to get in touch with me on twitter ill see you next time. Thank you. Good. To. Have bred in the west Bank Two Palestinians armed with knives attack Israeli Soldiers one of the attackers is killed the other is lying on the ground severely injured what happens next will deep divide israeli society. Murder her or hero fifteen minutes on t. W. Im a softy its in my clubs. Where i come from ride your remains an important new soft transmitting mules and for a mission and when i was young my country was brought. Home from. The war problem which keeps most people want because of our own drum. To see. If ones mind joel took two in one off the lot of just stodgy old sets so thought everyone in that column told me some toes that did. 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Then is why this government has ordered germanys ambassador to leave the country daniel crane was one of a number of foreign ambassadors to great the country self declared interim president when one white i landed it correct its a port on monday and the government accuses kramer of interfering in the countrys internal affairs