♪ damien: hello, and a very warm welcome to this week's "focus on europe" where we go behind the big headlines to see how europeans really live. i'm damien mcguinness. thanks very much for joining us. on the programme today, the asylum seekers who hoped for britain but ended up in cyprus in norway, are child protection . services overstepping the line? and urban gardening along the ancient city walls of istanbul. the big issue facing europe right now is of course the refugee crisis. and what's interesting is how different european countries are reacting to it. here in germany a lot of the people i've been talking to say

that europe has a responsibility to take in refugees. despite protests from some anti-migrant groups, mainstream society still appears to back the government's stance that europe needs to help. but when i hear the debate back in my home country of britain, you get the feeling that most british people regard it as a problem for the rest of europe to solve. and it's because of this anti-migrant sentiment in the uk that some asylum seekers have found themselves marooned on a british military base in cyprus. legally on british soil. but in reality far away from the british isles. reporter: destiny has all the things a child could ask for. and perhaps it's destiny's fate that she and her brother mills find themselves in europe on the island of cyprus. here they have a room of their

own, full of stuffed toys. but their father tag bashir had to build all of this himself. originally from sudan, he's been stranded on cyprus for 17 years. >> they didn't give me anything to help me to do this house. they don't like it. they don't want it. they want me to move from here to somewhere else, but i have nowhere to go. so i have to make myself a little bit comfortable, just to survive and to live. reporter: 'they' are the british army and their military base on cyprus. it's a relic of the colonial era when the island was still administered by britain. back then, officers and their families lived in these houses. today the children of refugees from sudan and from the kurdish territories in syria and iraq play here. seventeen years ago their parents were shipwrecked off the coast near the british base. >> we had problems with the boat. the engine stopped and then the

boat had a hole in the middle of it. and then the water started getting inside the boat and the boat start going slowly, slowly. by that moment we have seen five or 10 kilometers in front of us there was land there. reporter: that was in october 1998. 74 people were on the boat, manned by smugglers. hours later they finally reached land. tag bashir was one of the first to scale the cliffs. >> i saw one of the soldiers was walking and i ran to him and asked him, where are we? he said, who are you and where do you come from? i told him the story that we came in the boat and the boat is down there and the boat is carrying people down there. he asked me, where? i told him, just down the mountain there. he told me, you're safe, it's a british base. and the lucky thing we're thinking that we are being saved and we're going to start a new life. reporter: his and the others'

new life on cyprus was safe, but it was also the end of their dream of travelling onwards in europe. doros polykarpou has been following the fate of these refugees for years. the cypriot helps however he can, but so far no political compromise has been reached. doros polykarpou: the british, they don't want to give a solution because they are afraid this will encourage other people to use these as a way to enter the uk. the cypriot authorities, they don't want to give a solution because they consider it a problem of the british. so the british need to find a solution for this. reporter: the 15 refugee families living on the former base are on british territory, but the british government won't let them move to the uk. it would like to deport them to the greek cypriot part of cyprus. but the refugees see no future

for themselves in cyprus, so they're staying put. doros polykarpou has been assisting mustafa shimus for years. the syrian kurd is depressed and has lost all hope. >> i like to die and not stay here, me and my children. i wish i die before, 18 years and i don't have children, much better. you know, this make my life worse than in syria. reporter: britain pays him and the other refugee families trapped here 500 euros a month. it's not enough to live on, because they also have to pay for electricity, water and rent. and they have no right to a work permit or a standard residency permit. he is a stateless person from syria. his children are stateless as well. they are born in this country. they are now 12, 14-year-old children, even older, and they don't have citizenship.

tag bashir doesn't want to think about things like that on the rare occasions he, destiny and mills get to visit a playground outside the base. penny sadler, a british woman who's cared for the refugees at the base for years, teaches the children english once a week. >> they seem to have been left out in the cold. you know, while all this is going on, they would maybe be better off having come over now, be free to go where they want, to germany, to the european countries. but unfortunately, 17 years ago, this has happened. reporter: mills and his sister know little about their father's big dream of making it to london one day. their travels are pretty much limited to trips to this playground in a neighbouring greek-cypriot village, before they return to the enclosed compound they call home.

damien: when it comes to welfare support for the family, many of us in europe imagine scandinavia to be somewhat of an eldorado. childcare is cheap. and parental leave is generous. but according to some critics in norway, the authorities are getting too involved in family life. now there are growing concerns about norway's child welfare services who are accused of being too quick to take children into care. and it's sparking outrage. as well as sorrow. as we found out when we met one couple whose child was taken away from them. and they still don't understand why. reporter: not so long ago, vibeke morrissey and ken olsen thought that one day they would go for walks here with their child. but almost since birth, their daughter has been a ward of the norwegian child welfare agency. ken olsen: i feel like they take all that i have been created for away from me. i was created to be a father, a

protector of my family, and they take that possibility away. vibeke morrissey: and we got some things here, this is aria's bed. and this is all her things. this is her bathtub, and this is all her playing things and baby gym. but we have never used it before because she has never been home. reporter: ken olsen makes no secret of his past involving drugs, violence and prison terms. he himself grew up in state homes. their daughter was to be a living symbol of the parents' new beginning. vibeke morrissey: they said, so well, that ken was too dangerous for me and aria, so they took me and aria from the hospital. but after one week, they decided that, no, i'm not a good-enough mother, either, so, they took aria.

reporter: now the baby lives with a foster family. her parents are allowed only occasional visits. but why? before aria was born, neighbors had called the police on the parents because of a domestic disturbance. and ken had a record. in norway, that's grounds enough to call in the youth welfare office. agnete krogvig: in cases where the youth welfare office has intervened, it's because of a report and information from doctors or other authorities. and then we intervene only to prevent the child's health or welfare from being harmed. reporter: the office's hard-line methods have made headlines. dozens of cases have been denounced in internet forums. many of the parents who go public with their experiences are foreigners whose children have been taken by the authorities. there have been demonstrations around the world against norway's rigid child welfare policies.

anne kathrine eckbo-fangan says the youth welfare office removes children from the home as a first resort, not as the last. she used to work for the office but quit because she could no longer condone its practices. anne kathrine eckbo-fangan: the child welfare office is only concerned with removing the children from the families as quickly as possible and not helping to bring them back again quickly. they stay with foster families until they're 18. no discussion. reporter: as a social worker for the child welfare office, she was under constant pressure. rather than support the parents long term, she had to wrap up one case and move on to the next. anne kathrine eckbo-fangan: we had lists of mothers we specifically targeted, single mothers or ones with kids from several fathers. poor, sick, unemployed parents, or families

without relatives. that is uncles, aunts or grandparents. reporter: in norway, twice as many children are placed in homes and foster families per capita as in germany, for example. the strict child protection rules call for parents who are beyond reproach. in most scandinavian countries, spanking is taboo. this is often where immigrant parents run afoul of local authorities. einar salvesen: this is not scientific; it's a cultural thing that we believe that you should not hit the children in order to learn, while they come from a culture who believes is different, and it's interesting to see on a longitudinal study, if there are differences when they grow up, but we can't say that. reporter: one 15-year-old girl was immobilized by police just because she wanted to stay with her parents. such methods in the name of child welfare have been condemned by norwegian courts. but even so, when foreigners get caught up in the norwegian system, cultures can and do clash.

agnete krogvig: that's obvious. we have our own definition of what's best for the child, and it's clear and easy to understand for everyone who lives here. but it's a challenge to put it across, and you ve to expect cultural conflicts. but it's not solely a question of cultures, the norwegian child protection policies are legally questionable, as well. attorneys have occasionally succeeded in returning children to their parents. olav sylte: the norwegian authorities are doing a lot of things wrong because international law says that they should not take the children out of home if it's not necessary, and i think in a lot of cases it's not necessary the rigid child protection laws once separated ken olsen from his mother.

now he's determined to do whatever it takes to get his own child back. he's never had the chance to be a loving, caring father. damien: every parent's nightmare. but it's a difficult issue. if local authorities think a child is at risk, at what point should they take the child into care? let me know what you think about that or about any of the stories on today's show. thanks to all of you who have been in touch about the refugee crisis. teo vincent wrote to us on facebook to say that he thinks there are just too many migrants arriving in europe and that this could spark conflict. and lawrence reid tweeted me to say that migrants need to be ready to adapt to their new homes. but pointed out that host countries will no doubt be changed too. do keep those comments coming. when i lived in poland in the 1990's, lech walesa was still president. and he was revered. as many of you will remember he

started his working life as an electrician in gdansk shipyard. but he soon became a trade union leader there, and led the strikes that eventually helped spark the fall of communism. but there are now shocking allegations that walesa was in fact a communist spy who collaborated with the regime at the time. walesa's supporters say this is nothing more than a conspiracy theory peddled by poland's controversial new right-wing government. well, to track down the truth we've been to those legendary gdansk shipyards to talk to the people who knew walesa in communist poland. reporter: jerzy borowczak is still drawn to the gates of the former gdansk shipyard. as a 22-year-old, borowczak worked closely with lech walesa to organise the strikes that ultimately forced the communists to negotiate. jerzy borowczak: back then, i'd selected two bearded collegues

who looked like cuban revolutionaries. they carried walesa on their shoulders to the gate and helped him up on the car. the people shouted, 'get lech up, get lech up.' reporter: for borowczak, these are unforgettable memories of walesa as the strong, world-renowned labour activist, who stood up to the communists and won a nobel peace prize. but there have long been rumors that he was as a government spy in the early 1970's. now, a letter of intent has surfaced that supposedly confirms this signed by walesa, code-named bolek. and receipts have emerged. but borowczak doubts their authenticity. he says walesa only talked to the communists. jerzy borowczak: there was a captain who implored walesa to ensure no blood would be spilled. that's how it started. walesa never denounced anyone and never accepted money for working with the government, i'm sure of this.

reporter: memorial plaques commemorate the opposition members and their fight for freedom. to this day, borowczak is still friends with walesa and still admires him. jerzy borowczak: he was the most dynamic out of all of us. he was a leader with charisma. borowczak is following the allegations being made against walesa. when they emerged, walesa was touring latin and north america, giving talks. his blog documents the glamorous receptions, as well as his denial of the accusations, and his first interview. lech walesa: i never worked as a spy. i never accepted any money. these are the facts. reporter: borowczak visits the solidarity trade union museum. he still believes in walesa and hopes he will weather the attacks. to borowczak, what counts is what walesa achieved.

jerzy borowczak: those were beautiful days in august 1980. poland was free. thanks to lech walesa's leadership, no blood was spilled. the negotiations made it clear that we were one big family and that reduced the tensions. reporter: he recalls how everything seemed promising at first. in 1989, walesa had negotiated with the communists, as did the kaczynski twins. here, lech kaczynski is seen with a mustache. walesa and the kaczynskis became enemies. when walesa was accused of spying, lech kaczynski quickly accepted it as true. his brother jaroslaw kaczynski, leading the conservative pis party, marshalled these accusations to discredit the entire democratic transition. borowczak says it was a deliberate campaign. and so a recent demonstration

for civil liberties morphed into a pro-walesa rally, spy or no spy. lech walesa: it's war, war. someone else wants to be the hero years ago, piotr gontarczyk published a book accusing walesa of having been an informant. he feels vindicated now that the new documents have surfaced, even though their authenticity is disputed. piotr gontarczyk: back then, critics of walesa were decried as evil liars and vermin. those were hard times. reporter: he's disapointed by how the accusations are being instrumentalised politically. piotr gontarczyk: it's not all right to deny walesa's leading role back then. and to pretend he worked for the secret service and the communists all his life. there's no evidence for this. as the leader of solidarity, he was independent.

reporter: jerzy borowczak approaches walesa's old electrical workshop. borowczak has vowed to fight for walesa's honour, and for the honor of those who fought along with solidarity. borowczak is certain walesa will be remembered as a liberator, and for nothing else. ♪ damien: finally to our special series looking at the different walls that divide or bring together the people of europe. and this week we're off to istanbul in turkey. which for thousands of years has had ancient defensive stone walls. built first by the romans to protect the imperial capital constantinople, as it was then known. and later also maintained by the ottomans when they took over the city in the middle ages. today large sections of the walls are not only still

standing, but are even still in use. reporter: for more than a thousand years, the walls of constantinople withstood siege after siege. until 1453, when they were overwhelmed by ottoman cannon. after a six-week siege, the forces of ottoman sultan mehmet the second breached the walls and took what is now istanbul. it was the end of the byzantine empire. who guards the walls of constantinople today? we set out to have a look for ourselves. the first person we meet is ozkan okten. he grows vegetables among the ruins. for centuries, the 5-kilometer wall has protected small garden plots for the city's vegetable growers. what used to be the moat is now

fertile ground for okten's carrots and peppermint, an oasis in the megalopolis all around him. he explains that he sees himself as a guardian of the walls. ozkan okten: the walls are a world heritage site. to us, as well, they're an important historical site, of course. we make an effort to protect them. we keep a close eye on the visitors. if they only come here to drink, we bar their access to the wall. reporter: the city of istanbul has other plans for the byzantine walls. they include evicting okten and the other vegetable growers and putting in a tourist park. recently, bulldozers and riot police took up position, but demonstrators managed to stop them. okten describes what he's already lost. ozkan okten: this is where we had our terrace.

we used to sit here and have tea. we had an arbor over us. and over there in a corner of the wall was a shed where we kept all our tools. but the city had it torn down. everything ended up in the dump. reporter: okten worries about the hazardous condition of this masterfully designed and built double wall. in many places, it's crumbling or has already collapsed. heavy car traffic is still funneled through the historical main gate. we drive a little farther along the wall and are amazed to see people using it for other things besides gardens. some appear to have simply occupied parts of it using niches as kennels for cats or as handy storage for construction materials.

cabinet-maker gokhan kunreci has set up his workshop in one of the towers. he tells us he's the third generation here, and he pays rent to the city. tourists and sightseers are always coming by as we did and wanting to see the tower from the inside. he can't imagine having his shop anywhere else. gokhan kunreci: in winter, it's pleasantly warm here thanks to the thick walls and in summer, it's cool like with an air conditioner. some day, i guess they'll throw us out of here. when they start restoring the walls we'll have to pack up and leave. but we'll never find another place like this one. after 54 years here, i hope that doesn't happen. reporter: kunreci's grandfather has a full view of the wall from his living room. he often talks to it and begs for it to remain his home.

he says it has almost become a companion. osman kunreci: i'm a widower and all alone. sometimes in the morning, i talk to that tower across the way. it asks me, 'what's new?' and i tell it what i've been up to. reporter: istanbul is a modern boomtown, a teeming metropolis with a roman-era ruin of the walls of constantinople. and for the people who live and work around the walls, they're more than a piece of history. ozkan okten: every old stone we find on the ground has meaning for us. we stack them up here by the wall. and some day, when the specialists come, we can tell them, 'look, we've saved them all for you.' reporter: beneath these ancient walls we've seen that even monuments can be a normal part of everyday living and working. and even after centuries, they

can still wind up at the center of battles and dis the people along the wall have their supporters and regular customers. many in istanbul simply can't imagine the wall without its flower and vegetable growers. the city has agreed to le the gardeners and vegetable growers stay for now. but ozkan okten still worries that some day the bulldozers will be back. damien: well, that's it for today. thanks very much for watching. do feel free to get in touch anytime with your thoughts and comments. you know how. twitter, email or facebook. tweet me and i'll tweet you right back. but in the meantime, it's goodbye from me and look forward to seeing see you next week. same time, same place. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

steves: a selection of ferries make the 50-mile crossing between helsinki and tallinn nearly hourly. because of the ease of this delightful two-hour cruise and the variety a quick trip over to estonia adds to your nordic travels, pairing helsinki and tallinn is a natural. stepping off the boat in tallinn, the capital of estonia, you feel you've traveled a long way culturally from finland. its a mix of east and west. tallinn's nordic lutheran culture and language

connect it with stockholm and helsinki, but two centuries of czarist russian rule and nearly 50 years as part of the soviet union have blended in a distinctly russian flavor. fins and estonians share a similar history. first, swedish domination, then russian. then independence after world war i. until 1940, the estonians were about as affluent as the fins, but then estonia was gobbled up by an expanding soviet empire and spent the decades after world war ii under communism. when the ussr fell, estonia regained its freedom, and in 2004, it joined the european union. tallinn has modernized at an astounding rate since the fall of the soviet union. its business district shines with the same glass and steel gleam you'll find in any modern city. yet nearby are the rugged and fully intact medieval walls, and the town within these ramparts has a beautifully preserved old-world ambiance.

among medieval cities in the north of europe, none are as well preserved as tallinn. the town hall square was a marketplace through the centuries. its fine old buildings are a reminder that tallinn was once an important medieval trading center. today it's a touristy scene, full of people just having fun. through the season, each midday, cruise-ship groups congest the center as they blitz the town in the care of local guides. like many tourist zones, tallinn's is a commercial gauntlet. here there's a hokey torture museum, strolling russian dolls, medieval theme restaurants complete with touts, and enthusiastic hawkers of ye olde taste treats. woman: [ laughs ] steves: but just a couple blocks away is, for me, the real attraction of tallinn -- workaday locals enjoying real freedom and better economic times. still-ramshackle courtyards host inviting cafés.

bistros serve organic cuisine in a chic patina of old-world-meets new. and just outside the walls, it seems there's no tourism at all. under towering ramparts, the former moat is now a park, perfect for a warm afternoon stroll.