what secrets lie behind. discover new adventures in 360 degree. and explore fascinating world heritage sites. w world heritage 360 get the map now. take a look at a bit of. a growing number of christians from the middle east now live in germany collins kirk has been here for decades he was born in southeastern turkey. but in recent years many have come from syria where christianity is fast disappearing that it is not the 1st time this has happened in the middle east in my view that there are always wars and in the end if the christians lose of the freedom tower lose kirk is

seeking to help. he's come to syria to find out what he can do to alleviate the situation and to encourage the last remaining christians not to leave. while his journey succeed. his 1st destination a clinic in the town of sadhana in western syria he hasn't come empty handed this ambulance is as good as new one final check. weekly e.c.g. monitor is there ever so i found that it will. get us to just get it in a few minutes paolo's kurt and hines now will hand over the vehicle. it was transported from germany by ship. the ambulance has been completely renewed thanks to 30000 euros in donations. volunteers worked on it for 2 years members of

a catholic association in germany also helped find sneath is want to. see a qualified paramedic he goes through the equipment on board with one of the doctors at the clinic. the hospital's own ambulance was destroyed by islamist militants. many of those who donated to the new vehicle were initially concerned about giving money to a country ruled by a dictator but in the end the desire to help in the face of human need prevailed you mention here for what i'm going to people here have suffered a lot and had a lot stole it from them you can see the state of the previous hour because it was shot to pieces by almost for militants and caught fire. and for us is to help people whether there's an autocratic governments in power or afridi elected politicians. what have you. the ambulance is ready to go

staff at the clinic are delighted. they say it will help save lives. to move the mics very much needed because the next time spill is 45 kilometers away and we have no specialist doctors here every time we need to transfer patient we need a vehicle but there just aren't any often you can't even order a private car the ambulance will serve more than 15000 people not just here inside out but also the surrounding villages. the ambulance is the 1st major project for polio skirts small aid organization he knows what it is to flee fighting he was a refugee himself when he came to germany in 1900 this is a big moment for him. this is a cup when i see that bust up ambulance. i can't put into words how happy and proud i am that these people now have this ambulance. here that.

used to be home to many christians the same as quickly shared with other syrians back in germany high class family and. all with their own axe fall. in germany where. rania fled syria 4 years ago and now lives in germany she works for the aid organization which is why she was given special permission by the german immigration authorities to return here just for a few days. time for another quick photo of her friends and donors back in germany. suddenly a man comes by on a moped the group knows him her newman was previously a refugee in germany too. how you know you well. know it was russia the honeymoon and bites his old friends back to his house. because he. fled

syria to escape the islamic state group rather than the assad regime he and his family faced no problems when they return. now he works as a self-employed car mechanic. at that moment but. he and his wife and children are living here sharing with another family. they hope it's just a temporary solution. rania wants to know if shanti and his family need any help because she can't understand why they return voluntarily i think less are for me what made you leave germany and come back here when. i came back because i wasn't doing well mentally. and that i had no work and nothing to do i just spent 24 hours a day thinking about everything up for i need work to distract me and pass the time while i was in germany but my thoughts were here in

a sudden thought of my mom forget it i'm not planning to return there's nothing here for me that my son says mom i'm not going back i'm studying i'm working i don't want to lose my future my daughter is doing her high school diploma aren't you worried about your family and children if the ins return fire is you guys mother thought no no it's completely safe here. with your show my mother they were both attacks yesterday lot of homes is completely safe syria is completely safe right through to iraq is the father would you go back if the militants returned. to germany probably. rania asks his daughter lane if she wants to go to germany that yes she does she tells us she loves going to school in germany lane shows us around the home and this is the living room she says. that this is the bedroom for the entire family. this is and this is the kitchen

where they all cooked together. shaadi honeymoon is not typical most christians aren't keen to return to syria. the assad dynasty has ruled the country since 1971 the personality cult surrounding the president is all too evident and so or the scars of war. there are roadblocks everywhere. journalists are not allowed to move freely in syria. at least one person from the information ministry escorted us whenever we felt for security reasons we were told. the capital damascus is still a bustling center of life all appears calm here and relatively normal. but

appearances can be deceiving. the old city which remains largely intact has numerous control posts and a host of security officials who we are not allowed to film. the fear of terrorist attacks is very real and there is also rampant inflation the war and international sanctions have driven prices through the roof the syrian pound is constantly losing value. even the man selling sweets deals with huge bundles of money. to some of our sanctions the problem i asked paris yes they're driving up the prices says this trader. it's a crisis with no wind in sight for syria's war weary population. not far from the market is the official residence of the head of the syriac orthodox church. paulose and members of his a group international society of oriental christians are here to talk to the

patriarch about new projects you know. the ambulance for saddam was just a start. they've waited weeks for this appointment with the patriarch. they make not c s i from the 2nd meets them in person. with. the patriarch is the spiritual leader of millions of syriac orthodox christians all over the world. he has no illusions about the future of christians in syria as he tells us in a rare interview. if i have to look at it as a christian situation in syria i would say that i would numbers have almost. been reduced by half unfortunately. those who are still here some of them are still looking forward to leaving syria. does in such situation

we believe that it's important for us to strengthen our presence and i would contribution to syria because of that. the decrease in numbers we have to double 0 if worse and to be stronger in our situations in order to. prove ourselves as citizens and also to be able to help the rest of the syrian brothers us is that really with what many centuries all over. at the cathedral of st george in damascus the psalms are sung in aramaic the language spoken by jesus christ the syriac orthodox the nomination sees itself in the tradition of the early church the 1st christians came to damascus 2000 years ago. patriarchic not he was our friend has been in office since 2014.

even at the height of the syrian civil war he stayed mostly in damascus. he rejects criticism from the west that he and his church have sold out to the assad regime. we have been in contact with many politicians and leaders in the west and i'm sorry to say that they have failed to understand our situation they have followed the mainline politics of the west. they look at christians in particular as collaborators as people supporting this regime or that and this is the case of course it hurts us to see people in the west accusing us of office standing on the side while we think they are on the wrong side of history. so why does the

patriarch believe the west is on the wrong side of history on syria for more insight we made with. a german expert on eastern christianity he spent years living in the middle east and knows many of the church leaders personally. mark under-sea in the fuselage of the patriarch is just taking care of his flock. and it's quite simply the case that all the christians in syria believe that the conditions they've experienced on the bashar al assad and his father before. good as it gets in a state like syria leave those into the abyss to move on there's always the fear that if things change fundamentally in this situation for the christians this could look very differences that for example if radical islamists like the muslim brotherhood came to power. so preventing the top priority. for him that is not the cure to see it. prefers to stay out of

politics he just wants to help his fellow christians in their time of need. when the people talk a lot but they don't actually do anything to help it as someone who has been through these things i see it as my duty and my calling to help and support people in a situation like this to help and. ronnie as focus is elsewhere right now she's longing to see her parents again and is planning a visit her family lives quite a distance from damascus. i haven't seen them for 4 years. i feel like my heart has stopped beating. it's pro-con hard but there. we had north to visit ronnie as parents. while some areas have been reduced to rubble others remain untouched protected by checkpoints. our

destination is an area known as the valley of christians in the province of homs where ronnie is mother and the entire family are waiting expectantly the war torn rania's family apart her parents village hasn't been destroyed but it was behind the front line meaning rania was cut off from her family. because it's incredible to think she's on her way here. given i'm so happy. because. there's nothing much sympathy i'm very happy about that any mother in my position when i'm happy to see her daughter again it's been 5 years since we've seen her that she had to flee we were very worried about her she left on her own and has been through a lot. for the past week they'd been waiting impatiently for rania to reach them.

for years the only contact they've had with their daughter has been on the phone. if i could. have it my darling. we're so happy that she came back and you got to take you and your children.

i'm so happy to see my mother and father among my uncles and until my friends talk to you i'm going i'm very happy. about your ma. only just got out of homs in time. she lived near here in the city of homs together with her husband and children along with many other christians she never wants to come back here again. this neighborhood can only be accessed with a special permit from syria's military intelligence service palms was a center of the uprising against assad. the city came under rebel control the christians suffered greatly and during the long government siege

to retake the city conditions were desperate. since 2017 the whole of homs has been back under government control. nature is gradually taking over. most residents were able to escape many now live in germany. but a few have returned and are now living in the ruins. it's mainly the older generation that have come back to their former neighborhood like sue watt and her husband she says holmes was like hell on. earth. out of it when i came back i didn't recognize our apartment everything was burned up destroyed or had collapsed so it makes me sad at 1st i fainted at the sight i was as white as a sheet looking at all this houses apartments everything gone they left nothing. to

look at. what my little. sioux aren't witnessed terrible things but still she's hoping that her neighbors will return and things will be as they were before. there was a woman who just wanted to cross the street with her children they attacked them and shot them all dead they shot the woman her husband and the children what can i say seeing the bodies lying on the street was terrifying just as they had is that it. can she ever forgive the murderers. that none of them know i'm not forgiving them it's impossible i would somehow that he forgive everything but what happened here he wasn't normal but that we saw things with their own eyes that we could never have believed he has just not been there weren't even many birds even the birds fled from those gonna feel them say

like. a few minutes drive away is the manzanar church and important syriac orthodox cathedral this site is said to have been a place of christian worship for 2000 years. the building was severely damaged in the fighting but has since been restored. the church is seen as an anchor by many oriental orthodox christians follow skirt included. this is my identity. throughout history we oriental orthodox christians have never had a state that represented us politically or practically and so the church was always

the highest authority that has always represented us and so it's my identity. that . very often it's the churches that have been rebuilt 1st in syria. without a church many see no hope of returning. follows continues his journey to the column on mountains near the lebanese border. the road passes through terrain that has remained unchanged for centuries. eventually we reach a small mountain village. home to an ancient christian community. the war came here to. in september 2013 are not militants of the al qaeda affiliated al nusra front

invaded the village days of fighting ensued between the militants and government troops. buildings and artifacts dating back to antiquity were badly damaged some were directly targeted by the militants. right now things in manila are quiet. for sure. you know how those has arranged to meet professor knees are examples he's a well known artist who has studied the history of syria including this special place called. ok. he says that even during those terrible weeks back in 2013 there were courageous people who helped their neighbors. when the militant

muslim residents from the village of. help the christians of mali. for some even hit the christians in their homes a few minutes of. this relatively peaceful coexistence between diverse cultural groups set syria apart before the war good is the force could you imagine syria without this diversity these different religion it's really be sure to be a few one parish. syria has 18 different religious denominations i'm definite groups. the list of adversity is one of its most outstanding characteristics. of the dimmest now you've looked around damascus and think of things how you expect them to be. the. bill that i thought i would only see images with because. everything we saw in europe was dark and hopeless.

but what i've noticed here now is that there's hope it's steep and hopeful but i do see that some people are fearful and this an angst. and when i stand here i see the monastery on the one side has been repaired. but on the other the hotel that still stands in ruins. this is why so there are 2 different pictures this is for me and it's not easy for me to imagine that all this will stop at some point. although i sincerely hope it will. be. but i would like europe to come and see where their own oil is how life here is and to newark despite everything despite the sanctions passed by cultivated europe with all respect come and see how life syria is. looking at the destruction and the still relatively tense situation it's hard to

imagine that this was once a popular tourist destination. footage from a german broadcaster dating back to 2001 shows the hotel in the village as it was a lively and beautiful place. visitors would come from all over the world to see them are sockets the one of syria's oldest surviving monasteries with its famous icons and ancient altar. the rule. is one of the last remaining villages where aramaic is still spoken the language of jesus christ this is the lord's prayer in aramaic i wanna. get the sh'ma he said im all can i just can you know. it's me smores has a lot of. the holy oman hopefully that was 20 years ago

what happened to the young woman did she survive the war. after months of research we find she's still here when the islamist militants came she hid in a cave now she's happy to show us around the monastery and church. them at the missy this is one of the oldest altars in christian. what the one about it was broken that you can still see the cracks. but i stuck it back together. when we came back after madeleine was liberated we found it in 3 or 4 pieces that at about. order has been restored in the church and the dome rebuilt. who. i.

really. watch oh oh. 00000000. oh oh the leak. just. another sizable christian community is located in northern syria right near the turkish border. this footage was filmed in july 2900 before turkey invaded the area. it's a predominantly kurdish region the kurds have long strived for political autonomy

and traditionally oppose the assad regime. the footage shows many images of. the jailed founder of the kurdistan workers' party or p k k both turkey and the west see the p.k. k. as a terrorist group the turkish government views the local kurdish administration and all kurdish fighters as terrorists. in october 21000 turkish troops and allied militias invaded northern syria among them turkish back to jihad ists. in the chaos there were many reports of islamic state militants escaping from kurdish jails. the local christians found themselves with nowhere to turn. caught up in the fighting targeted by the islamists but not natural allies of the kurds either. the escape

route to europe via turkey was blocked by the walled off border. the muslims often gives and you've got there's no hope of escaping from this area that was designed to beat the whole of turkey has been closed for a number of years it took a magically sealed and so the christians are forced to stay where they are because you could swim and lots of blood was recent. but what will the christians do if the situation in northern syria escalates. gets woman if they're forced to flee with an open city they will somebody else and sadly that could happen in the next few years. to.

kick off. this town atmosphere means listless clay soft from the. looks of guns and unrelentless finds the sensible. known stump excitement to the final match to. the industry. 30 minutes on d w. play .

this is the news live from india is hit by a 2nd wave of the current virus as cases sort of almost 100000 for a 2nd day of running status hold on prime minister and that interim ody to open up vaccinations to more off the population also coming up burke overarching goal is to ensure that the wrongs nuclear program is permanently verifiably constrained top diplomats head to vienna to try to brace you that you brought a new team.