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tv   Inside Story  Al Jazeera  September 4, 2015 5:30am-6:01am EDT

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australia. two-time superbowl winning quarterback tom brady successfully had his four game band lifted over deflate gate scandal and a judge ruled the scar can't be held responsible for the team's use of under inflated footballs and more on our website. ♪ the middle east refugee crisis busted out of the tent cities in the desert and teaming capital in jordan and lebanon. it's bang on europe's door, desperate people stuck in various places, challenging a slow-moving e.u. to respond to a humanitarian crisis. nowhere to run,
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it's "inside . >> welcome to "inside story". i'm ray suarez. the images poring out of central eastern europe are terrifying and heart-breaking. soldiers holding back thousands of refugees left with only what is in their hands, and the clothes on their backs. crowds thronging a railroad station, anxious to get past a country that doesn't want them, to one that does. and then this - a little boy face down in the sand, drowning trying to get to safety, lift the by a turkish policeman and taken away. joining me from budapest hungary is al jazeera's correspondent. welcome to the programme. the hungarian prime minister viktor orban has been uncompromising about the refugees, he doesn't want them
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in the country, if that is so, why haven't they been loaded on trains and taken to germany, which indicated that it will take them? >> that's exactly the question we have heard from so many refugees here. most of them syrian. they say "why are we here?" if the prime minister doesn't want us here, and others in hungary don't want us here, why not let us get on the trains and go to germany, especially if they'll take us in, accept our applications for asylum. it's a huge problem. the move at the train station - it is miserable. parents are here would don't know what they are going to do when it comes to their kids. they are trying to distract them from some of the suffering that is all around them. putting together a makeshift toys for the children. i can tell you that the kids know that this is a dire situation. they want to get on the trains as well. but, one of the problems that they are facing right now, and
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something i have heard from several refugees is if a train were to open now, and stay, you can board right now. a lot say they don't think they would. they'd be too afraid that this will be a train taking them to a refugee camp in another part of the country. they don't believe they'd be taken to another country. it is a serious situation. all the things that the prime minister said, has been met with derision. by and large, thousands of refugees around the station, doing everything they can to appeal to the union for country. >> if you are one of thousands stuck in the station in budapest, are you getting food, are you getting water. can you wash. the train station is not set up to be a refugee camp. >> no, it's not. it's an important question. they don't have the supplies they need or access to as much clean water as they need. they don't have access to la
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treens the way that they need. many have laundry, washed with tent. they are the fortunate one that is we see. it is a dire situation. now, fortunately in the last few days, more and more aid workers, and more and more concerned citizens from hungary have been coming out, donating clothing, water, donating food. actually today we have seen a lot of folks from here donating toys for kids to play with. they are trying to ensure that the children are given a little respite, reprieve from misery that is around them. still, with the help coming in, with the donations and concerned citizens, it's a desperate situation for the thousands of refugees around here. i can tell you one syrian man i spoke to said to me that he can't believe he's in this situation. a few months he was dealing with barrel bombs in syria and idlib. he narrowly escaped with his
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life. if he knew what he had faced, he wouldn't have left syria to begin with. >> al jazeera's correspondent reporting from the railway station in hungary. >> thank you. >> closed borders. razor wire. anxious governments. europe has not seen anything like it since the iron curtain was slamming shut in the aftermath of the world war ii. west. joining us to discuss the challenge that the world is watching. bill, the director of the refugee programme at human rights watch. bill, the world has seen this coming for years. people have been pouring out of east. why is the e.u. so far behind in figuring out what to do. they had a system set up. supposedly on paper, they have a harmonized approach, same standards and procedures for asylum throughout the european
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union. clearly, the countries that are on the external front ears, the areas, basins, lag far behind. and the chance of getting protection, actually, of having an asylum claim heard and granted is lower in those places than it would be in germany or sweden. approval rates are different. 2014 in hungary, less than 4%. if you are seeking protection, you'll go to the place where you'll be treated decently to begin with, where you have a chance of being protect. that's where people were moving, despite a system set up that basically said that the place where you first enter, set foot, is the place responsible for examining the claim, processing it. it's unfair to begin with. >> the last time there was a surge like this, europe agreed in principal that the burden
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should be spread. this is at the insistence of greece. and everyone, in principle - nations stepped forward saying "yes, but not us." they were only asking for 40,000, and got pledges for 42,500, falling well short of the mark. within july. that same month, july, 50,000 new arrivals came to greece. they were already. the parameters of the discussion were already complete reply disconnected. brussels, from what was happening in greece and italy at this time. us. >> today the greek prime minister david cameron upped britain's allotment, said that he would take more than had been planned. germany is willing to take a
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number approaches 1% of the bit. what do we see here, with some countries saying not us. slovakia, we'd rather not. hungary being upfront saying "not one", basically. what is going on. the u.k. was part of the block, offering not a single place. perhaps the suffocation, perhaps the heart-breaking reaches of this. perhaps they are having an impact. in the human response, where people are not looking at this. it has a form that cameron was using previously. and that really, to me would mark a turning point. both in terms of the solidarity of humanity, but the solidarity
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of the european union itself. we don't want to see groups like international rescue, working in the poorest countries working on water, sanitation and camps in the greek holiday island. >> why is the rest of the world looking on, watching europe handle this on their own? there's a new middle class, new aid distribution. they are not, as far as the world knows, pitching in. >> well, pitching in, you direct that question about europe, trying to help europe. the first question is what are we doing to help lebanon, to help gordon, turkey. the u.n. appeal for the humanitarian assistance for perspective. >> the people in place. >> there's 327,000, large, large numbers, compared to 4 million, 1.1 million going to lebanon.
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that's about a quarter of the population. entire country, a poor country, a country with precarious demographic balance, various economies as well. and the u.n. asked for a little over $4 billion for that, they got about a billion and a half. the shortfall was two-thirds less than what they said they needed to provide for humanitarian assistance to this crisis. so is it any wonder if people can't have the basic shelter and food, education for their children in these countries of first asylum, that they'll move on and try to seek both humanitarian assistance, and ultimately secure protection further afield. >> a good reminder that the people were not getting the attention they needed. bill, thank you bill is director of the refugee programme.
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the evolution of the e.u. since 1950s has been driven by a pan european idea meant to nit together regions, old enemies, rich and poor. is what we see now, refugees stranded in hungary, inter-european sniping showing the cracks in what should be a united europe. >> drilling in the arctic. >> rapid change is always an alarming thing to see. >> as the ice caps recede... and the ocean opens up... how can we protect our natural resources? >> this is what innovation looks like. >> scientists reveal cutting-edge technologies... >> you can look beyond the horizon and extend your reach. >> that could avert disaster while helping save the planet. >> i feel like i have a front row seat for some very dramatic changes.
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you're watching "inside story". i'm ray suarez, tonight on the show, nowhere to run. spreading through europe. hungary is building a fence on the boarder with serbia. slovakia will take a small number of refugees. a prime minister reacts to the hungarian leader saying christian ethics demand helping people in league. germany and sweden prepare to take hundreds of thousands. the e.u. is not of one mind about what to do. people scrambling on to boats, heading west to escape the fighting and tim ult in the wider region. the ambassador joins us, former u.s. ambassador to the czech republic. and acting director of amnesty international international's european institution office.
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are we seeing splits inside the e.u., that normally they try to publicly. >> well, the e.u., unlike the united states, which has had - integration. it is relatively knew to the process of resolving these issues. we have been through a very tense notion around greece, and now with somewhat different alignment, we have another one around the migration issues. we are seeing the split. interesting common factor is that germany, the reluctant european superpower is in the situations. >> germany can't do it all on its own, can it. i mean, it's made an agreement to take 800,000 - which is a huge number in terms of this flow.
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while other countries are sidelines. >> it has to be said that angela merkel has shown notable leadership on this issue, by sending a strong message in response to the ongoing refugee crisis, it's clear germany alone could not do this. what we need to see is the broader european response, and solidarity from the other member states. >> well, are we seeing the opposite though, with viktor orban, the leader of hungary basically saying too many muslim migrants will undermine a core christian culture in europe. donald tusk, the former head of state of poland saying christian ethics demands we take these afraid. >> prime minister orban made the comments for the meeting with the commission, and he
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referenced concern about economic migrants. that's factually incorrect. it's clear to anyone watching the images, coming from greece or budapest, or europeans across the region, we are dealing with people flying conflict in war from syria. we believe the prime minister is flawed in that approach. what we need to see is safe legal routes into the european territory. the basic fact of the matter is that these people assistant have to take undignified dangerous routes in the first place. >> you have seen conditions in the train station in budapest. i'm a little surprised this deep into the crisis, this is where we are at. people pitching tents in the heart of europe. why was there no global or pan
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european response, so the poor countries of europe, on the south-eastern flank get a little europe? >> ray, the dublin mechanism was intended to provide for those allocations. it's not enforceable, and it was not designed tore this massive -- designed for this massive inflow of refugees. and our heart breaks for them from the crisis zones surrounding europe. the european union finds itself, and mr orban has been an outlier of other issues. the european union finds itself formulating the responses. i will say in fairness to the european union, that this is a pain.
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issue that the world has struggled, with so much of the refugee crisis in world war ii, in the run-up, when similar arguments to the security arguments - well, we can't take refugees from germany, perhaps they'll be german spies in the midst. the security arguments are not to be taken dispositively when you are facing a crisis. yet they are being recycled. the refugee issues are tough for any institution, but the e.u. has not had to deal with the volume before i'm glad you brought that up. many of those refugees were sent home to occupied areas of europe to be killed, and it's not a stretch to imagine they'd be sent back to syria. ambassador, stay with us. people on the move around the world, fleeing gang violence in el salvador, anti-muslim violence in myanmar. grinding poverty in eritrea,
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instability in afghanistan. is the world inching closer to a comprehensive answer. a less ad hoc reacty system for responding to thousands of people showing up on your country's doorstep. nowhere to run - it's "inside story".
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welcome back to "inside story". i'm ray suarez. either you watched with mounting horror as the syrian refugee crisis worsens, or the australian navy intercepting rescue boats at sea wandering why it's not getting fixed. how, exactly. the syrian war driving civilians from their homes. myanmar says the rohingyas are not citizens of myanmar, work their hands at their own people's suffering. until there's peace in syria,
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stability in other areas, why will people stop running, until they stop, where will they go. my guests are still with me. having an international tool kit for dealing with the crisis that seem to be with us almost on an ongoing basis now. >> indeed. it points to a number of factors. first of all, of course, that there are a conflicts. looking at syria in particular, conflicts. >> amnesty international, not long ago had a resolution on chemical weapons. that fell short of accountability. we'd need to see the prosecutor from the international criminal court. on the broader scale. we have spoken about the lack of
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funds to the un-hcr and the lack of resettlement places offered at a time when we were facing the biggest refugee crisis since world war ii. >> mr ambassador. some of the countries arrived to be settled. i wonder if it's fair to look at an erit tray opinion. different from a syrian people that didn't want to be blown up. the tragedy is every refugee has their own heart-breaking story. at some point when poverty levels are severe, they represent at threat to your family, the lives of kids. that makes it just as compelling a case to me as the war zone. in terms of how we deal with it, i think the world has to show shared leadership on this.
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the united states is the world's sole superpower, has leadership and roles to play. we should step up and speak to the issues. that means ending the anti-immigrant rhetoric, and some parlying here at home and agreeing to bring in the states. >> it should be noted the united states took few refugees from the iraq-afghanistan regions, after being there for so long. is there a difference between somebody from north africa or the middle east who makes their way, and gets into britain. just to get a job and a better life. versus someone fleeing the conflict zone? >> well, there is, of course, a legal difference on how the case may be handled, someone had the right to asylum. they'd go into a refugee who had an international obligation to
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protect them. where an individual was determined to be an economic environment. that may not be the case. however, we refer to this earlier this evening. there's not been a standard review of the cases, so you have the situation, where somebody might be given refugee status, and another had that rejected or reviewed as a might rant. where you have a situation where the numbers are not working, that has serious implications and could result in a situation where people could be sent back. it would be serious. >> before we go, do you think the situation will force the world's hands. are we at the point where we can't differ any more. >> sorry to tell you, the crisis has been threatening to force our hand for centuries, yet we still manage resolving them definitively. i think the e.u. will improve.
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but i figure that we will face refugee crisis as long as humans walk the face of the earth. >> the acting director of amnesty international's european institutions office in brussels. ambassador representing the u.s. in prague, here with me in washington. thank you to you both. in a minute a final thought of less than 1,000 words on the power of pictures. stay with us, it's "inside >> follow correspondent roxana saberi on a personal journey. >> this is the first time in 20 years i've been back to my mother's homeland. >> a special in-depth look at japan. the legacy of the atomic bomb. controversial american military bases. and the country's evolving identity.
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this world of ours got real connected real fast. so images that shape the world's impressions of events become something closer to universal. faster than before. i'm going to guess that you know who the two young british people are, even if you are not interested in their lives. you can probably go to the remotest places in the developing world, places you think are beyond towers and tv, and you'll find people there know who this is. which is why little elan may move people in the way few pictures of the terrible toll of the syrian war has done so far. if i say a name, you may have no idea what i'm talking about. what if i show you this. a terrified little girl, her back severely burned in a bomb attack, a gripping images of
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america's long war in vietnam. hundreds of thousands in makeshift tent cities, people crammed on refugee boats, making compelling, moving viewing. sometimes it's the ability to shock that crystalises an event. a cut building was a horrible site. the tiny stockinged feet, her lifeless body in the arms of a indelible. if i state the plain fact that hundreds of thousands are scrambling to save their lives, you might note it. seeing to this makes it real in a way plain words just don't. i'm ray suarez, and that's "inside story".
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>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour i'm jane in doha and coming up, in the next 60 minutes, hungry, thirsty and scared and a standoff continues in budapest. in the train behind me there are hundreds of refugees inside and a standoff between them and the riot police that are out here and nobody knows how the situation will end. ahead from the presidential palace to a prison cell

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