voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. afg ha n refugees afghan refugees are being kidnapped and tortured on the

border of iran—turkey. the bbc has uncovered numerous videos during this investigation. most were too disturbing to broadcast. videos taken and sent to horrified family members, demanding ransoms. i am soran qurbani. i2 members, demanding ransoms. i am soran qurbani. 12 years ago, i smuggled my way into europe from iran. now, iwork for the from iran. now, iwork forthe bbc from iran. now, iwork for the bbc and i am investigating what is happening to refugees like me on that route today. we met with refugees in turkey he managed to escape but lost everything in the process. and those trying to tackle it.

call to prayer. this is a city in turkey on the border with iran. the gateway to europe for many hundreds of thousands of afghan refugees. for decades, people have been smuggled from afghanistan through iran, and into turkey. these undocumented migrants have been flank civil war, poverty and persecution. when the taliban read took power in august 2021, the numbers

increased. an underground network of smugglers operate safe houses across the city for those who have just made it to turkey. houses, flats, stables, all repurposed to hide the thousands of refugees coming in each year. this man is in his early 20s. the blood you can see is a broken nose. it happened while crossing the border into turkey. heat we have changed his name in the name of other refugees for their safety. they make this perilous journey, despite full knowledge of the risks.

but there is a new threat. and one everyone in this safe house seems to be aware of. this man showed me a video that he had just received on telegram.

videos of this horrendous torture are going viral on afghan social media accounts, but it hasn't stopped people coming. 0ver3 but it hasn't stopped people coming. over 3 million afghan refugees currently live here. the majority are undocumented. life there is very difficult so many are trying to make it across the border into turkey. but in recent years, it is a

claim that gangs are exploiting their vulnerability. akamai had had first had experience of these ransom demands. his brother was kidnapped with his extended family when they tried to flee the taliban last year. it was a dark med received the calls back home and the demands for ransom. —— akmed.

family is desperate to do anything to save their loved ones. and, yet, six months after his brother's ordeal, akmed took that very same risk. all this risk to get to europe. it took this person five years the multiple detentions to make it to the uk. he is seeking asylum here but he is originally from iran. his villages on the border with turkey and where many of these stories of torture are taking place.

over the past three years, he has been using his presence on social media to name and shame

those he says are gang leaders are responsible for this torture. this is where the journey starts. and what many hundreds of thousands are desperate to leave behind. the taliban retook afghanistan in august 2021 and now afghan national have been fleeing in hundreds and thousands ever since.

i met this man back where he started, back in afghanistan. he has attempted this journey six times. the trauma of his last attempt still fresh in his mind. he had been promised a fake document that would allow him to cross into turkey. it was not until he reached a town at the border that he realised it was a trap. he had been sold to a gang who

were holding him for ransom. he says he was held in a village called almeria, about 20 kilometres from the turkish border. —— al maru

it was his family and the shame he may bring to them that tormented him. this all happened around this border, all this risk, just to cross this man—made line. turkey built this wall, now covered in almost half its border with iran as a response to the influx of refugees. the idea of building the wall was to stop refugees crossing into turkey but they are still

coming. this time, they have to climb a three metre high wall with barbed wire and electronic sensors. and even when they do cross, danger lurks the other side. .,, ., cross, danger lurks the other side. ., ., ., , , side. those who are apprehended at the borderline _ side. those who are apprehended at the borderline by _ side. those who are apprehended at the borderline by the _ at the borderline by the military are facing a 100 person pushback.- military are facing a 100 person pushback. military are facing a 100 erson ushback. , . , ., person pushback. this man is a human rights — person pushback. this man is a human rights lawyer _ person pushback. this man is a human rights lawyer who - human rights lawyer who represents refugees. he says the turkish authorities would clearly push migrants back across the border and that is when they are falling into the hands of violent gangs. it is very much _ hands of violent gangs. it is very much related - hands of violent gangs. it is very much related to - hands of violent gangs. it 3 very much related to the pushback, those violations, because it creates a fragile group open to all forms of abuses. �* .,, , w, group open to all forms of abuses. �* , ., abuses. almost every case of torture we — abuses. almost every case of torture we came _ abuses. almost every case of torture we came across - abuses. almost every case of torture we came across in - abuses. almost every case of| torture we came across in this investigation happened after the refugees had been pushed

back across the border at night. turkey hosts millions of refugees, more than any other country, but this criticism of the authorities came up again and again in our investigation. put this allegation to the turkish government but did not receive a response. in the face of similar accusations from human rights groups, the authorities have denied push backs, saying any activities to prevent illegal entry into turkey i carried out within the scope of border management.

but some make it into turkey. there is a careful operation to hand them to other smugglers to continue the journey. this hand them to other smugglers to continue thejourney. this is all too familiar. 12 years ago, i went through the same kind of operation. passed from smuggler to smuggler, from here to the uk, where i was granted asylum. refugees leave money with the middleman that is sent to the smuggler when they make it safely across. he has now been handed on to the next smuggler in the chain, who will take him to istanbul. little afghanistan

is an area of istanbul that could be confused for kabul. between 200 and 300,000 afghan refugees live in turkey. as usual, many are unregistered. it was not hard to find people who had also experienced kidnap and torture along the way. cries out. hargy received these videos of torture from a man who had kidnapped his children. this is what they were threatening to do to his family. he sold his house in afghanistan to pay them off.

but she'd's son—in—law ——by sheed, haji's son—in—law, admitted to the border. when they were arrested, he begged to be deported in daylight. he knew the risks.

they were one of the lucky ones to be released when haji paid the ransom. but the border was too much for theirfamily. they are just one of the many afghan refugees and families who are in drawing this torment and yet, still trying to leave. desperate to try again despite all that's happened. so he'd

told us weeks after this interview that he had reached tehran again we haven't heard from him since and it's been months. —— sajeed. we continued to receive videos of groups of refugees kidnapped in iran. these men were reportedly rescued by locals. and others intervening to help the refugees. during these investigations, we have heard stories of torture from at least ten locations along the border of iran and turkey. i have been given the

names of 1a different gang leaders, reportedly responsible. the bbc cannot report inside iran so it is impossible for us to visit these areas. we followed numerous leaves, including bank account details that we found were registered in the name of the child. —— leads. i reached out to my network of contacts, including smugglers themselves. this man admitted that kidnapping has become a business on the border, although denied any involvement himself. we co nta cted we contacted the iranian

authorities to ask about this disturbing trend and did not receive a response. thousands of people are still crossing, facing unimaginable challenges to find safety. and even for those who make it, it's traumatic. i was born behind this wall. this is my country, that side. but the problem is i'm not able to go there, and i'm not allowed. i was thinking if i was able to go to my hometown, probably a couple of hours driving i would be there, and i could join my family for dinner. but i can't. sorry.

in the turkish crossing point, the risks taken are clear.

starkly highlighted by those who did not make it. remembered as a number, buried in an unfamiliar earth. hello. we'll have a look at the weather over the next few days now, and some of us will be pleased to hear that rain is on the way. but be warned — the thunderstorms could be quite severe, so a lot of rain in a short space of time, almost certainly leading to flash flooding in places, hail, gusty winds as well. butjust down the road, you might escape the worst of it and it'll be predominantly dry, bright 01’ even sunny.

now, low pressure isjust to the west and south—west of us right now. this is where it's going to stay over the next few days and that pattern basically means that moisture, clouds and warmth will be rotating around this area of low pressure. and the air will be predominantly coming in from the south, so it'll stay on the warm side. but no real heat on the way, at least in the short term. here's a rainfall accumulation map, so the darker the blue colours, the greater the chance of encountering a fair amount of rain, but some parts of the country will still get very little. so, the forecast in the short term and it is relatively quiet at the moment. yes, there are a few showers around and we will have had some showers and thunderstorms across parts of northern ireland but on the whole, i think it's a generally quiet start to sunday, and a warm one. this is muggy air coming from the south. temperatures of around 14—16 degrees in warmer spots early in the morning on sunday. so, when will the showers

start to brew? i think from late morning into the afternoon, there's that risk of thunder increasing across the uk, and by the middle of the afternoon, certainly, storms rumbling across the country — in some areas 30mm within an hour, in other spots, even 80mm spread over a few hours, so that certainly means flash flooding in some areas. now, i think the greatest risk of the heavy rain, the thundery rain will be later in the day on sunday across some of these eastern and more northern areas of the country and the thunderstorms will tend to drift northwards as we go through the course of the day but the met office warns that almost anywhere across england and wales could see a lot of rainfall. so, here it is monday, then. the worst of the rain will have cleared to the north, i think. early in the day, very wet in parts of eastern scotland. then, the afternoon on monday is a mixture of sunshine and also showers and staying quite warm — temperatures will be in the mid

20s in a number of areas. that low pressure is still with us. so, essentially, the warm atmosphere is coming in from the south and with the moisture, the humidity in the air and also the strength of the sun, we'll see showers popping off inland during the course of tuesday. so, if you don't get the thunderstorms on sunday, there's a chance you might encounter some showers on monday, tuesday, even wednesday and you can see a cluster of showers there across other parts of the country. so the nature of showers, it's very difficult to pinpoint which areas will get them — we're just pretty confident that they will be around the uk. and it stays on the warm side. look at that — hull, 2a degrees celsius. around 20 or so in belfast midweek. how about that? so, this is wednesday next week onwards. it stays warm. there is a chance temperatures will start creeping up as we head to the weekend

but you can see quite but a warm one, on the warm side. bye— bye.

live from washington, this is bbc news. us secretary of state antony blinken touches down in beijing for a high—stakes weekend of talks with his chinese counterparts. quick thinking to survive missile attacks and communities coming together to help each other. the latest out of ukraine as the counteroffensive continues.