this is "nightline." tonight limbo in lesbos. refugees who have escaped death now trapped in a living nightmare in greece. >> this is what people are supposed to clean themselves. just look at the rubbish. >> plagued by overcrowding, violence and sexual assault. the secrets behind these barbed wire fences. plus pulling back the curtain on the upcoming academy awards. jimmy kimmel is all abuzz. >> the worst thing that can happen is everything goes perfectly. >> the secret to writing the most important monologue of the year. >> his take on last year's best picture blunder. >> i would be honest, it would be funny if it happened again. >> but first, the "nightline" five.

number one in just 60 se

good evening. thank you for joining us. escaping from a war zone or a dictatorship to a picturesque greek island sounds like a dream come true. but for some families it can be just another horrific ordeal on the seemingly unending road. tonight abc's ian panel takes us behind the barbed wire fences of a greek refugee camp where some

are wondering if they would have been better off never leaving their homeland. >> reporter: on a biting winter's day amidst the cold, the wind and the mud, syrian children living in squalor being raised amongst the trash as mothers struggle to create a sense of home. this is the refugee camp on the greek island of lesbos. >> what is life like here? >> it is not good. >> reporter: it's europe's dirty secret. originally built for 2,000 now housing more than twice that number. and to escape the overcrowding some are moving here, to a makeshift camp on the other side of the barbed wire fences. like fatima and her family. oh, your hands are cold. she says life for her three children isn't what she expected.

and every day she struggles to keep house and home clean. however futile. her husband, ab dull jabbar tells me he escaped from one form of death only to find another. but here, he says, it's slow. back in syria, death came quicker. and this is why they're here. the war in syria that continues to rage. last week this was the scene in the district of ghouta, one of the last rebel-held areas. over 400 were killed, almost a quarter children. in 2015, this crisis hit a tipping point. with packed stations, crossing the perilous seas and the children, like this 2-year-old washed up on a beach, drowned with his mother and brother simply because they tried to reach safety.

thousands of migrants and refugees have died in the waters that surround europe over the last few years. although the absolute numbers have gone down, there's been a significant rise just since the fall. and imagine how desperate you must be to put your kids in a rickety boat and send them out across these seas. in the last four years it's thought more than 13,000 people have died or gone missing in the seas around europe. and without the greek coast guard countless more would have drowned here. >> it's very dangerous. they can lose their life. >> reporter: you must have seen some of that. >> i have seen someone throw a baby. >> reporter: for some the journey began in africa, but most are fleeing the middle east. traveling through turkey and on to the shores of greece. you can see why they come here. look at it. it's beautiful, relatively prosperous. and safe. but instead of an island

paradise, many here have found a living hell. and they're now stuck, unable to leave the island until their claims for asylum are heard. and that's taking months. in some cases years. we're just heading into the camp, this is the most notorious camp here on lesbos. you see up here the barbed wire and the fencing that's designed to keep some people in and keep some people out. on this date we were given a rare but limited tour. we're from abc news. >> here is the section for families. >> reporter: the man in charge here is jigiannis. >> you're a refugee and you are allowed to leave. some people six months, maybe longer. >> yes, of course. >> reporter: he says they're overwhelmed struggling to keep up with the never-ending influx of migrants and refugees.

>> where will they go, where? in the roads? >> reporter: people will ask are the conditions so bad here? >> the only problem is too many people. it's very difficult. it's not easy. we have a lot of staff for cleaning all the area, but after an hour, it's the same. >> reporter: the conditions are inhumane. that was a fight just over food. you can make out the queue up there. people are in line basically collecting trays of food. someone with security, someone had an argument, it shows how tense things are here and it ends up in a brawl in a dirty street. the people here tell us the chaos just a small part of the problem. outside the camp we met this 14-year-old and his friends. when you came across from turkey, what was it like? large parts of the camp are closed off to outsiders, but we were getting numerous reports of

appalling conditions there. many we spoke to told us the same thing. and they wants us to come inside and to show us. with the level of complaints we feel we need to see inside for ourselves. we'll try to get to see inside the facilities here. we've seen videosshotbythe residents showing some pretty hideous conditions. to be fair the director acknowledged it was pretty bad. inside we go searching for anais. and here's what we found. a third of a dirty tent where they all live, sleep and play. anais and his family lost touch with their dad while they were fleeing syria. months later and they still haven't heard from him. how hard is it for you, anais, and your brothers and sisters without your dad here? he asked us if we could help him trace his father. he wanted a s.i.m. card for his

phone. what's happening now is anais and his brothers and sisters are trying to dial their older brother who lives in germany. when they left syria, they didn't know what happened to their dad. this is the first chance they've had to try and find out. >> hello. >> reporter: but there is no word. what's life like here for you and your family in this camp? >> reporter: it was tragic. come here. a sadness settled on the children. small, vulnerable and lost. charities like doctors without borders are trying to help those in need. so many already in distress. >> we're working at our maximum

ability at the moment. but many are coming back. >> reporter: many have psychological trauma from the war. those trying to provide some counseling struggling to cope with the demand. for this 27-year-old the memories of war and the trauma of the camp have made life unbearable. >> reporter: you ever had any dark thoughts or bad thoughts because of that? she tells meese she's attempted to take her own life repeatedly. like so many here, she's lost in a world without hope. this is someone's blanket. this is where they hang their clothes. that's the entrance to their door. you can see some of the clothes are on the floor in the mud. conditions in here are really horrible. even the kids are doing this because of the smell is so bad.

and just filth absolutely everywhere. and there's a hidden danger here. many women avoid the bathrooms at night scared of the risks of sexual assault. i mean, this just -- it's like an informal encampment, not something that's actually run and organized by a government, by the european union. this really is shameful. the camps are a melting pot of misery. migrants and refugees from not just the middle east but afghanistan and africa. >> moria no good, no food. no sleeping for days. >> reporter: many like this man have enough. >> we're suffering here. they're treating us bad. >> reporter: he says he's been here almost two years. >> we've been thinking they're going to save us. now they're not saving us. and we're not seeing anything better from them. it's a bad life we're living here. >> reporter: most of these kids

have never had a proper childhood. they were born into war. they've grown up on the run. and too many are stuck in limbo still waiting for the security and sanctuary they so badly deserve. for "nightline," reporting from lesbos, greece. >> our thanks to ian and his team. next, if you think you're excited for the oscars, imagine being the host. >> i have now whittled it down to probably 500 jokes. so by hopefully the end of next week i'll have whittled that down to a hundred jokes. d jokes. i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks.

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after last year's best picture snafu, academy awards host jimmy kimmel should be prepared for anything. in fact, he says, he's hoping something goes wrong. it's that chaotic imperfection that's made jimmy a comedy favorite. so where will his punchlines land this year? here's abc's paula faris. >> reporter: late night's jimmy kimmel is already known for gags. >> you are not the father! >> reporter: but the 50-year-old brooklyn-born comic has distinguished himself in the past year for his political activism. >> my family has health insurance. we don't have to worry about this. >> reporter: most recently an emotional response to the 17 killed in parkland, florida. >> children are being murdered. >> reporter: what do you say to your critics to say who are you to speak out on these issues? >> i'm an american, that's who i am. people are going with this line of reasoning where they say people in show business

shouldn't speak out about politics, and yet they elected donald trump the president of the united states. so i think that argument is pretty well jumped out the window. he tweets a typo at midnight then wakes up and claims it was a secret message. >> reporter: do you think there maybe have been times when you pushed the envelope too far and become too political? >> no, i don't. >> reporter: you don't regret anything you've said? >> no, i don't. i am still doing a comedy show and need to entertain my audience. but i think we've matured enough to the point where we can accept late night talk show hosts speaking about a serious subject and i think that it's almost necessary now. >> reporter: this new outspoken kimmel will host the oscars this sunday, his second in a row. for kimmel, the show presents a golden opportunity. so much has happened since you hosted last year. we have the times up movement, me too movement. everything going on with gun

control and politics. are you nervous at all that you're going to strike the right tone? >> yeah, i do worry about that. because i have a tendency to not strike the right tone in my life. >> reporter: but this is a really tough year to try to be a comedian in light of everything that's going on. >> sometimes it actually goes the other way. sometimes people are so tense and worried about that kind of stuff and serious that it actually makes people -- it's almost like in a way laughing at a funeral. sometimes that will play to your advantage. >> reporter: how will you know if you've gone too far? >> i'm sure the internet will tell me. >> reporter: you probably saw there's a "usa today" poll that was released recently that said 94% of women in hollywood have been harassed or assaulted. that's your audience right there. >> yeah. >> reporter: how do you address it? >> here's the thing. this show is not about reliving people's sexual assaults. it's an awards show for people who have been dreaming about maybe winning an oscar for their whole lives. and the last thing i want to do

is ruin that for someone who is, you know, nominated for best leading actress or best supporting or best director or cinematography or whatever by making it unpleasant. that's not what i want to do. >> reporter: meryl streep has phoned it in for more than 50 films. the jokes were flowing during kimmel's oscar debut last year with many of his signature stunts. >> hello there. >> reporter: you might remember the awe-struck tour group walking into dolby theater. >> let me give you a little tour. >> reporter: or the candy parachutes falling from the ceiling. who could forget that infamous best picture snafu. >> there's a mistake. "moonlight" you guys won best picture. >> i'm still not clear on how the wrong envelope got into warren beatty's hands. i'll be honest, it would be funny if it happened again. >> reporter: are there any safeguards in place to make sure what happened last year doesn't

happen again? >> i think that the biggest safeguard there is is that this company, price waterhouse coopers, will literally have to go out of business if they do it a second time. so i think they're going to be very, very careful. >> reporter: it's been a whirlwind year for the late night talk show host. his son billy was born with a congenital heart defect and had open heart surgery just days after birth. jimmy sharing his family's struggle on the show. >> billy was born with -- a heart disease. he had another open heart surgery last year. and we're having his lips done when he turns 6. >> reporter: is he okay with that? >> he asked for it. it was his decision. we don't force these things on our children. >> reporter: i did not see that one coming. >> he's having another open heart surgery around when she's 6 years old. >> reporter: you love to shock me. you just shocked me with that. >> it helps me get through the serious moments. >> reporter: but he's a happy

boy. >> he's a very happy boy. it's crazy. he has no idea what happened. sometimes i look at him and think you don't care what we went through, do you? you just want oatmeal. >> reporter: and prepping for sunday is a family affair with kimmel working closely with his wife molly who is the head writer for "jimmy kimmel live" and co-head writer for the oscars. >> i know what to say in any scenario this is a great lesson. if you have the final say and the person who is saying it doesn't you probably have a problem. >> reporter: do you have any anxiety going into this year? >> i want to make sure everything's right and the jokes can be as good as they possibly can be. i've now whittled it down to 500 joke. hopefully by the end of next week i'll have that whittled down to 100 jokes. >> reporter: how many will make the final cut? >> probably 30, i guess. >> reporter: you go from about 500 to 30. >> no, i go from thousands to

30. >> reporter: oh, my goodness gracious. jokes aside, it's actually kimmel's quest for imperfection that he thinks make any show a success. >> as long as nobody's getting crushed, i think it's fun when things go wrong. i knew i would screw this show up. i really did. the worst thing that could happen is everything goes perfectly. >> reporter: you don't want things to go perfectly. >> no. >> reporter: you secretly want the wheels to fall off a little bit. >> at least one wheel. two wheels you're grounded but one you can repair. >> reporter: you kind of thrive on the chaos. >> i like it when there's a little -- kind of stay on your toes. >> reporter: nor "nightline" i'm paula faris in los angeles. and next, who is behind the grand, romantic gesture, a proud papa surprising a superstar momma. >> abc news "nightline" brought to you by ford.

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finally tonight, along a california highway today love is literally in the air. serena williams husband alexis ohanian showing signs of affection erecting billboards proclaling her the greatest momma of all time. and adding the gmoat to her grand slam titles and making a larger than life poster child of their newborn daughter olympia. she makes her post pregnancy return to tournament play. looks like this couple is already a winning match. good for team serena.

they remind us of the african proverb, if you want to go fast, go alone. if you want to go far, go together. thank you for watching "nightline." and as always, we're online 24/7 on our "nightline" facebook page. thanks for the company, america. good night. good night.