But Technological Progress and new forms of transportation have made displacement a far bigger, global issue. In the mid19th century, in order to escape starvation in their home countries, millions of irish and germans boarded steamships to the united states. In the 20th century, the Second World War forced 60 Million People from their homes in europe alone. And since 2005, millions of people have fled conflict in syria. Sometimes, like in africa today, all the causes of flight come together at the same time. Take mali, for example. Since 2012, violence has overshadowed the west african country. Islamists regularly attack malian Government Forces and u. N. Peacekeeping troops. Over the past few years, 250,000 malians have fled to neighboring countries. Now some of them are returning home. Reporter the calm in timbuktu is deceptive, and its mainly down to the massive presence of u. N. Peacekeepers. Rebels and jihadists are still operating in northern mali at the edge of the sahara desert. Terror and violence have left their mark on the city. There are too few hospitals, and many children are no longer attending school. Mariam and fatouma toure are ambassadors for unicef, the United Nations childrens fund. They are 15 years old and are still in school. In timbuktus old town they regularly visit families to persuade them to send their kids back to school. Mariam we go from door to door to make parents aware of how important education is. Weve already persuaded a few to send their children to school. But there are parents who say that education is not important for children. And then some of them say that its more important to go to koranic school. Reporter not only parents objections like these are keeping children out of school. Fear is also a factor. More than 800 schools that shut down after the political crisis in 2012 remain closed, more than 80 in and around timbuktu alone. The sidi mahmoud school is open and hopelessly overcrowded. Mariam mint mohamed ali is 12 years old and one of around 1000 students here. Most of them are children from the neighborhood. Some had fled the violence but have since returned, like mariam. Mariam my family left timbuktu in 2012. We lived in a refugee camp in mauritania. Life was very hard there. We didnt have a proper house, just a hut. It was very windy and very hot in the camp. It was hard. Reporter there are up to 100 children in each class. Mariams teacher abdoulaye bakaye says the returning refugees need extra special attention. Abdoulaye we have to work with them on two levels. On the one level we have to support them psychologically because so many of them are traumatized. On the other, we have to give them extra tutoring so they can catch up with the other pupils. Many of the refugee children have missed an awful lot of school. Reporter theres not just a shortage of schools in timbuktu, but also of teaching staff. Teachers have to contend with threats from the islamists who want to stop nonreligious education. Few children here are getting the chance to finish their schooling. Mariam im really happy. Theres a Proper School here with desks, teachers, and books. Im so glad i have the chance to learn here. Host an 8000kilometerlong belt of trees stretching along the edge of the sahara from mali through niger to ethiopia. Thats the goal of great green wall project. The idea is that the plants will prevent further desertification, make soils more fertile, and reduce conflict. And its urgently needed. Bamako in mali, for instance, has a booming population, and deforestation in t region continues. Reporter charcoal is big business in bamako, the capital of mali. Almost Everybody Needs charcoal to cook with, and the population is growing. Maimuna traore is a charcoal merchant. She is doing well, but her very success is becoming a source of concern. Maimuna there are fewer and fewer trees. It is scary. If you go out of town, you will see what i mean. Reporter an australian agronomist with the ngo world vision, tony rinaudo, has developed a method of countering the deforestation that affects large parts of africa. His work won him the right livelihood award, also known as the alternative nobel prize. Tony as land is cleared of the vegetation, the land gradually degrades and become less and less productive. Less can be grown on it and less profit can be made from it and people become more desperate. So, there is a very strong link between conflict and land degradation, and also between migration and land degradation. Reporter Maimuna Traore tells rinaudo that she now has to get her charcoal from 160 kilometers away because sources closer to bamako have dried up. Its a similar situation in and around many of africas big cities. The disappearance of forests and degradation of the land is a huge problem. Tony how do we tackle that . Fortunately, through farmer scalable method to reverse that degradation. Reporter in the 1980s, rinaudo discovered that in many places there are intact underground networks of roots struggling to grow, and that pruning shoots can help trees and bushes flourish. World vision is now promoting the f. M. N. R. Technique in 24 countries around the world. In yameriga in northern ghana, Samuel Bantang was among the first farmers to adopt it a decade ago. Samuel it has changed so much in my village. We used to have to drive our cattle long distances to graze. And thieves could steal them. But now they can graze nearby. Reporter but theres a lot still to do. The villagers regularly go out and work on reviving areas of degraded land, applying rinaudos technique, and trim new shoots growing out of old stumps. Farmer managed Natural Regeneration isnt complicated. It involves targeted pruning and protecting of new growth. Still, its very effective. These saplings will hopefully grow into tall trees. Samuel we cut some shoots but leave the bigger ones, just one or two. What we cut away we use as firewood. Reporter the key advantage over planting new trees is that the roots are already there and reach deep into the soil. So even if it rarely rains, they can tap into the groundwater. Trees can also raise the water table, release moisture into the air, and fertilize the soil when their leaves fall and decompose. As conditions improved, Samuel Bantang was able to increase his herd. Samuel it has helped a lot. Life used to be much harder. But now things are different. We have a proper income, we can look after our families, pay for Health Insurance and school fees. And everybody has enough to eat. Reporter in yameriga, 82 hectares of land have so far been reforested. But large stretches still look like a desert. Degraded dryland regions may have countless intact tree root systems that could yet yield new trees, if they are properly tended. Rinaudo organizes conferences across africa on f. M. N. R. Also in countries that are in turmoil, such as mali. He was recently in bamako. Rinaudo has devoted his life to restoring africas forests. He says regenerating local vegetation improves the lives of millions. And giving people hope can help transform the Political Landscape as well in many a country. Tony it would transform the whole country, because it has that potential. People to be able to be selfsufficient on their own land, they are not going to be so interested in joining a fight somewhere else. They have families to raise, they have aspirations on how they would like to lead their life. Reporter cities such as bamako consume vast amounts of natural resources, even as they become ever more scarce. The restoration of vegetation around cities and elsewhere can improve peoples quality of life, and perhaps reduce the potential for violence and conflict. Host of the worlds 68. 8 million displaced persons, by far the majority, around 40 Million People, are internally displaced. In colombia, years of paramilitary violence has led to 7. 7 Million People there suffering that fate. Most have nothing to return to. Their homes and livelihoods are all gone. And more recently theyve been joined by 1. 5 million refugees from crisisstricken venezuela. Reporter bogota is growing fast. Some 10 Million People live here. But its the poor districts on the outskirts that are increasing most rapidly. Many people displaced from their homes elsewhere in colombia have settled in soacha. The neighborhood is known to be dangerous, but its close the city center and rents are cheap. Carlos doesnt want to be recognized. A month ago he fled from gang warfare in theown of el rra. Carlos it was war, so we left so as not to get caught up in the fighting. If we hadnt left, it would have cost us our lives. Reporter the power vacuum left by the farc is now being filled by other groups. Anyone who doesnt Pay Protection money gets murdered. Carlos saw 28 people die before he decided to flee to the capital. Carlos i feel good here. Ive had a lot of support from the red cross and from victim support. Thank god im ok. Theyre helping me find a job in a company. Thats my plan, to find work and spend the rest of my life in bogota. Reporter the hope of a job and a home has also driven thousands of venezuelans to colombia. Venezuela closed the official border crossings in february, but families continue toome acss elsewhe on foot. There was nothing back home. Nothing for my baby, nothing for us. Thats no way to live. No medicine,o food, noing. Report but thin wont be easy in lombia, eier. To get a work permit, you need proper i. D. Almost half the venezuelans whove come here dont have that. Many are exploited as day laborers. Some just hang around the streets and beg for money and food. Even people with a job have a hard time finding a decent place to stay. Many of those who make it here sleep in socalled pagadiarios shared rooms packed with beds. They have no rights there and could be evicted at any time. Luis is a hairdresser and has a job, but he barely makes enough just to pay for his bed. Luis its like a prison. We are like prisoners. There are three bunk beds per room. Thats six people. So you have absolutely no privacy. And you cant leave any valuables there either. Reporter colombia is trying to cope with its own displaced people and many more from venezuela. The United NationsRefugee Agency unhcr is worried that the country cannot handle the strain. Jozef in various parts of colombia, venezuelans just sleep on the streets, which makes them vulnerable to attack. There are all kinds of people. Lots of women with children, pregnant women, older women, and people who need special care. Thats why the unhcr and other agencies are trying to at least offer some initial help. We want to give them a chance to build a life here in colombia as long as they cant return to venezuela. Reporter this man is one of the successful ones. He has opened a venezuelan restaurant in bogota. Back home he worked in tourism, but then things became unbearable. Carlos at first i was planning to go back when the regime fell. But now i have my business here and my family. Ill have to think about it. Ill probably wait a while. Rerter the staurateurs a ro model for some other venezuelans in colombia, not just for his success, but also because he provides them a taste ofome. Host an amazing 85 of all refugees worldwide are taken in by developing countries, regions where poverty and hunger are already key problems. Industrialized nations make up just one in ten of all host countries. And one of them, japan, is notoriously tough when it comes to asylum. Kim the detainees are treated worse than animals. Perhaps better than insects, but only just. Reporter tokyo, capital of one of the most homogenous societies in the world. Foreigners make up only 2 of japans population. Its also one of the countries most closed to outsiders. More than 10,000 people applied for asylum here in 2018. But only 42 were granted a refugee status. Eri ishikawas Organization Says it takes care of 600 to 700 Asylum Seekers every year, helping them fill out applications and survive the long wait. Eri the asylum process is very strict. We see the applicants here and we think that more should be accepted. Reporter her ngo provides applicants with food, accommodation, and clothing during their wait, which averages almost 1. 5 years. But its capacities are at the limit. Eri since last year, the government has made the conditions stricter for work during the waiting period, so very few people can get work and only a few get government support. Reporter the japanese government says many applicants come for economic reasons only. But documents from the department of justice show that in recent years, only one third of all applicants were clear economic migrants. Of all the industrialized countries, japan has the most rigorous interpretation of the u. N. Refugee convention. Applicants must be able to prove they are threatened in writing and in japanese. During the waiting period, many are at risk of becoming homeless, or if their initial application is denied, they may end up in detention pending deportation. One of the biggest Detention Centers is two hours outside of tokyo. Kim the Building Back there, thats where i was held. Reporter kim eui jung applied for asylum in 2010. Decades after being involved in antigovernment protests in south korea, he had reason to fear repercussions. After overstaying his visa, he spent more than 2. 5 years in the center. Now he is out on probation. Kim not much gets out about the conditions in there. After six months, most peoples faces turn expressionless. Reporter the inmates have been on Hunger Strike several times in recent years. They criticize the crowded accommodations, insufficient medical care, and the uncertainty about their status. Some are confined for more than five years, although detention is only meant to be temporary. One former detainee is this refugee from sri lanka. He doesnt want to give his name for fear of being recognized in his homeland. In sri lanka, he got caught between the fronts of the civil war. He fought for over 12 years to gain refugee status. I came here when i was 45. Now i am 58, 60 now. So, all that time is finished. I cant go back. Its like a punishment. Now i dont have my children with me. I dont have my wife with me. And there is no future plan. Reporter this mountain of papers is only part of his longrunning legal battle. On a stopover to canada, he was detained at the airport in japan for missing documents. It was only in january this year that he was finally recognized as a refugee. He was helped by people like kyaw kyaw soe. Originally from myanmar, he is one of the few refugees who have become successful in japan. 17 years ago he opened a burmese restaurant in tokyo. Kyaw deportation is very difficult, so they do everything they can to make life in japan hard in the hope people who sought refuge here will leave the country voluntarily. The japanese dont want these problems around them. They want to keep them far, far away. Host at the height of the eus migration crisis in 2015, many refugees who arrived in germany from regions in turmoil, like syria, received a warm welcome. Up to eight million germans volunteered to give language classes, assistance, and advice, all of which helped many young arrivals settle in. Reporter a fellow syrian has opened a supermarket in hanover. That is worth a story for the photojournalist najem al khalaf. He documenting how pple who had tolee syria y to make lifeor themsels in germa. Najem his is okra. It is quite hard to find here. This is from syria. It tastes really good with tomaes and pepper. Reporter many germans dont engage with the migrants or refugees in their midst. Najem would like to awaken an interest in syrian culture, including the food. Najem i t to show tt it is not sothing bad. On the contrary, it could be good for you, too. Maybe you willind it tasty. Try it. I am openminded. I have eaten german schnitzel and stuffed cabbage. Ive tried it all. Reporterwhen he was 18 and studyi politicalcience and jourlism in lenon, he wa detained crossing into syria and taken to a secret service jail where heas torture th he was gin a choice join the army or have your family buy your freedom, which they did. After at, he knehe had to leave. Najem syria was the place where i lived and grew up, but it felt alien. It was not the right pce for me. I just could not stay there. Reporter in 2014 he reach geany overla through t balkan he experienced so much along the way, but did not yet have the mes to recorwhat he sa on here, he arned germ, took preratory claes, and is now studying photojournalism in hanover. He is invoed with a dia collective tre callecameo. Ce a week,he team meets to discuss projects. Articles. Alhalaf hopehe can sooshow his latest works there. Lots of the stories on the website are about the concept of identity and the many ways of thinking about it, also with respect to gender and migration. Texts are in german, english, and arabic coributors fm all what we believe is that one plus one equals three. When people with different points of view and backgrounds come together, thats when new, surprising, and interesting thingsmerge. Reporterfor najem khalaf, meo offers a forum for expling the issues close to his heart,ree of the consaints of aore conventional publication. The latest issue of cameos magane is devod to the tme of ankommen arriving. Al khalaf contributed a piece with photos of young refugees o talk abo their liv and hopes. Reporter al khalaf says he feels goodn germany. But its his profession that gives his life focus and meaning. Najem arriving is not necessarily about reaching a certain spot to live in. It can also be about finding a place for yourself. Its not always about having a new home or a new language. It can just be a feeling, finding your place in pursuing a sport, for example. Or a real place. The feeling of having arrived can be very gratifying and soothing for the soul. Reporter najem al khalaf hopes he will be allowed to stay in were back next week. And heres a quick reminder to send us your feedback. Write to global3000 dw. Com, and you can find us on facebook, too, dw women. See you next time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute,