host: hello and welcome to "global 3000." there are currently more migrants on the move around the world than at any time since the end of the second world war. today we visit a town in america that has discovered them as an antidote to its own decline. here's what else we have coming up. immigrants are saving a small american town from shrinking. why palestinian poverty is also poison for the environment.

and, how luxury foods like organic shrimps can help preserve vietnam's mangrove forests. how can the flow of migrants be stemmed? that's a question being debated not just in europe, but also asia, the middle east, and africa. while the global players are working on new policies, a look at who actually takes in the most migrants can be quite a surprise. pakistan, itself a poor country, hosts the greatest number worldwide, mostly from neighboring afghanistan. in lebanon, a country in constant turmoil, 1/4 of the population fled conflict or oppression elsewhere, primarily syria. many on the move in africa settle first in kenya before often moving on. some lucky few are fortunate enough to become part of a resettlement program. one small town in the usa has discovered welcoming migrants as a way to secure its own future.

reporter: fatuma muhammad from sudan discovers something new about american culture every day. today she's learning what a "cookout" is. an english teacher tells her and the other refugees in her class about paper plates and barbeques. here in utica, in upstate new york, war, murder, rape, and suffering feel very far away. fatuma muhammad: i am mother and father for my children. my husband is dying. in my country in sudan, darfur. i come to kenya and live in kenya for around 10 years. reporter: 10 years in a refugee camp. that's how long it took for her asylum application to be processed.

a year ago, fatuma and her children were finally allowed to move to the u.s. in bureaucratic jargon, they were "resettled." hundreds of refugees arrive in utica every year. they all start out in this refugee center, where they fill out forms, pick up bedding, and learn english. ba rar arrived last night. he and his family are karen from myanmar, where their minority faces persecution. they too waited ten years to be resettled. ba rar: the refugee camp in thailand was like a cage. we weren't allowed to work or go anywhere. if i can get a job in a kitchen or cleaning or washing dishes, i'll do it, whatever it is. reporter: fatuma is a few steps further along. the day after tomorrow she'll be starting work. her job adviser tatiana gives her some last-minute advice. tatiana naumenko: the refugees are ready to work any place any

shift any hours. they're ready to start work full-time, overtime, double overtime. reporter: a four-hour drive from new york, utica was a city in decline. its economy was in a slump and its population in freefall, shrinking from 100,000 to 60,000. the city center became dilapidated. today, 1/4 of the city's population are immigrants. the first refugees began arriving in utica 30 years ago. they came from vietnam. later, most of them came from bosnia. they opened stores and helped revive the economy. local authorities were keen to ensure the new arrivals started working straight away. these days, 69% of the population supports giving refugees asylum. robert palmieri is the mayor of utica, and he's very hands-on in his job.

here, he's visiting a refugee from myanmar. mayor palmieri: i'm telling you, this gentleman has been here for eight years. you have a house that is freshly painted. you have a lot of pride. you have someone who has put a house back on the tax rolls. he is raising our family in our city to grow. the benefits far outweigh anything we could ever ask for. reporter: a few problems are inevitable. the mayor doesn't mind taking a tough line when he feels he needs to. mayor palmieri: some people with chickens are slaughtering lambs. it's a way of life. but they're in america now and we have codes. you can't have unopened room in your house -- have an open grill in your house. reporter: once class is over, fatuma heads home to look after her five children and two grandchildren. she relies on food stamps to put dinner on the table. her oldest son osman is 17. he has unhappy memories of

sudan. osman muhammad: i was unhappy. it was trouble. even something to eat, sometimes they don't get it. sometimes, they sleep hungry. sometimes my mom would go walk out to find something to eat or something like that, but she didn't tell us everything about it. when she talks about it, she feels sad. that's why we don't want to hear about it. that's why. reporter: now 44, fatuma would like to become a u.s. citizen. she'll pay back part of the cost of her flight to america with her first paycheck. ale libic has been here 18 years longer than fatuma. he fled the bosnian war, arriving in the u.s. with one bag and $50 in his pocket. he got a job helping out in a greenhouse. now he runs a food wholesalers, supplying 100 ethnic supermarkets.

ale libic: i own this place, the warehouse, it's my own. i own my house. i have three more houses that i rent to other people. i own those houses also. that's what i achieved. >> that's a lot. ale libic: thanks to god and hard work. reporter: an ardent bayern munich fan, ale drives a german car. it's brand-new. all these houses used to be completely run-down, ale's included. utica's inner city underwent renewal largely thanks to the immigrant population. ale libic: after we came from the camp, where we lived in tents for a couple years, it gave us morale and energy to build, to do better, the house looks nice, the area, the whole street. because we experienced something

bad, so now we want to prove that we're worth something. reporter: around 70% of the houses here in utica are now owned by refugees. they're helping revive the city's fortunes. fatuma is starting her job as a cleaner in a casino today. her past still haunts her. she wants to work because it helps her forget. fatuma: [speaking foreign language] reporter: "the work won't be hard," she says. she's muslim, she explains, and muslims see cleanliness as very important. fatuma's new life is about to begin in earnest. she can't wait for it to start. host: life in the palestinian west bank is difficult. its struggling economy is largely dependent on doing business with neighboring israel and therefore sensitive to any change in the level of tensions between the two sides. but as the situation in the town

of idhna shows, israelis and palestinians are equally affected when it comes to the effect their business relations have on the environment. reporter: clouds of toxic black smoke are billowing from piles of burning electrical waste here in idhna, a town close to hebron in the west bank. the waste is delivered by trucks from israel. more than 30 tons of waste are processed here every day. it's demanding and dangerous work, but for 2/3 of the local population, it is the only way of making a living. jamil el-batran: what else should we do? it's the only way i can survive. reporter: sifer abu-jheish runs a small business. things haven't been going all

that well lately, but he still has a dependable income. he gets between 5 and 20 shekels for a kilo of metal, the equivalent of up to 4 euros. the scrap metal is recycled using this machine, but that's rather the exception. sifer abu-jheish: lots of people burn copper wires like these ones here. that causes a lot of smoke which is bad for the environment. it's bad for the whole area. but we are only doing our job. reporter: on the other side of the israeli west bank barrier is the village of shekev. here, too, people are affected by the pollution. timna idan shows us around. timna idan: it's all day and into night. it's absolutely terrible. reporter: timna worries constantly about the health of her three children. their kindergarten is just a few hundred meters away from idhna.

when the smoke is particularly heavy, the children get rushed back indoors. often for hours on end. many of them suffer from asthma and skin conditions. timna idan: i'm really frightened. the children are so young and they are breathing in these fumes. small children are especially vulnerable. reporter: abd el-fatah is mayor of idhna. he wants to clamp down on environmental pollution. he shows us some of the sites where the electrical waste is burned. these caves are in the wadi el sufra. it's illegal, he tells us. local authorities do their best to stop it happening, but their efforts are futile. people need the money. abd el-fatah: it makes me sad. what's happening to the land, the plants, the air. everything's being destroyed. lots of people around here have cancer. reporter: the mayor takes us with him on patrol.

he has some ambitious plans. he wants to boost tourism to the hebron hills region, and he'd like it to be sustainable. the first step is to put a stop to the electrical waste burning. but that's easier said than done. abd el-fatah stops a car and challenges the driver. has he been burning copper wires, he asks. the driver tells him to get lost and seems impervious to the mayor's threats. there's little he can do. these fires will no doubt be burning for some time to come, filling the skies above the west bank with toxic fumes. it's an industry that too many profit from. israel gets rid of its electrical waste, the palestinians get to earn a living.

once the waste has been processed, it's returned to israel. jamil el-batran: all we do is recycle the waste. then we sell it to israeli factories. that's all we do. reporter: but locals on both sides of the separation barrier are paying the price. back in shekev, timna is meeting some friends. today the pollution isn't too bad. timna shows us some photos she's taken to document the pollution. timna idan: it affects us all. not just right now. but the next generations, too, our children, our grandchildren. for wildlife, for nature. everything will be contaminated. reporter: many in shekev have tried to combat the problem but their complaints are falling on deaf ears. in summer, locals can't switch

on their air conditioning because the air is so polluted they get sick. there's no solution in sight. and in the meantime, the trucks carry on transporting their electrical waste to the west bank. host: time to tickle your taste buds now with our latest global snack, those no-fuss foods people like to enjoy around the globe. today we are in kenya to sink our teeth into a maandazi. just right for those of you with a sweet tooth. reporter: this week, our quest to find the world's most delicious snacks leads us to the aberdare range in western kenya, where we're dropping by the ngumo hotel. "hotel" means in swahili "snack" or "restaurant."

for 25 years, daniel masharia has been cooking up his country's most popular treat. daniel masharia: here in kenya people really love maandazi. the reason is that it's soft rather than crispy, and it's especially delicious when it is deep-fried. if you add sugar, it's sweet and everyone loves a sweet treat! people are just crazy for the sweet variety, so i get lots of guests here. reporter: maandazi is made of milk, brown sugar, a little bit of water, sunflower oil, and flour. daniel masharia: you take the baking powder and add a little bit to the mix.

if you add too much, then the dough rises too much and there's too much air in it. you only need a little bit. reporter: daniel masharia doesn't like waste. he wouldn't dream of just throwing away the baking powder packet. the next step is to knead the dough. then it's left to stand for eight hours. the dough is deep-fried until it turns golden brown. on a busy day, masharia makes up to 200 maandazi. they cost the equivalent of 8 cents each and can be eaten here or taken home.

>> i like to eat maandazi in the morning, because then you don't feel hungry the whole day. it's sweet, and it makes you strong. even if you spend the day working in your farm, or planting trees, you don't feel hungry. reporter: and if you find a hole in your cake, there's even a prize to be won. host: savory, suite, or spicy? what kind of no fuss foods do you like when you are out? send us a photo and you could win an apron.

sent!d it by email or by facebook. good luck. host: after that sweet treat, let's turn our attention to a leaner alternative. shrimp is tasty and low in fat. in vietnam, environmentalists are trying to convince shrimp farmers to replenish the country's mangrove forests. that helps increase their catches in the long run and gives nature a chance to recover. reporter: evening's the best time for catching shrimp. tan viet ho's shrimp can grow as big as 30 centimeters. unlike many shrimp farmers in vietnam, he doesn't use chemical

additives or antibiotics. tan viet ho: i have a contract to sell my organic shrimp to a major shrimp factory. its buyers are going to inspect my aquaculture and make sure it meets the standards. if i pass then i can sell my shrimp to them directly and they'll pay me 10% more than what i currently earn. reporter: he and his family have been earning their living by shrimp farming for 25 years. tan viet ho has four children and 13 grandchildren. they eat together most evenings. early in the morning, tan checks again, and finds another 9 kilos

-- tan checks his nets again and finds another 9 kilos worth of shrimp. tan viet ho: i'm very pleased with this catch. at this rate, it won't be long before i can build a new house and pay for my grandchildren's education. reporter: black tiger shrimps are the most lucrative variety, worth about 10 euros a kilo. the main markets are europe and the us, where demand for organic produce is growing. a kilo of organic shrimp retails for up to 30 euros in european supermarkets. at a nearby shrimp farm, we visit a mangrove reforestation project mangroves are valuable biotopes. but in the past, many shrimp farmers destroyed mangroves in

their aquacultures with a view to boosting productivity. man minh ta: there's a close relationship between mangroves and aquaculture, especially shrimp. mangroves provide a good living and breeding environment and food for sea creatures. in hot seasons, mangroves help reduce the temperature of the water. reporter: mangrove trees also help protect coastlines. thuy thi bich nguyen is project manager with the mangroves and market scheme. thuy thi bich nguyen: the region has been suffering severe and constant soil erosion. since 1993, we have lost 700 meters, 30 meters each year. reporter: up to 40% of the south vietnamese region could end up flooded in the next few decades.

duy van tran: over the past 20 years this region has been experiencing severe changes to the environment. this includes unusual typhoons and floods and other natural disasters from the asia pacific region. the rising sea levels have also a great impact on the livelihoods of the local people here. reporter: the people here need to take action to protect their environment. the dutch development organization snv is teaching shrimp farmers how to plant mangroves. these workshops are funded by the international climate initiative. today they're learning about water quality, vital for healthy shrimps. the shrimp farmers are investing a lot of their time.

but it's worth their while. tan viet ho: after joining the program our productivity has been rising significantly. before joining the organic shrimp farming program, we earned 200 million vnd per year. and this year after two months, we already earned 100 million vnd. reporter: around 50% of vietnamese shrimp production is located in the ca mau region. over a billion euros' worth of shrimp was exported from here last year. the country's biggest shrimp factory buys the harvests of aquacultures. in the long run, though, the factory is unwilling to keep paying an extra 10% for organic shrimps.

quang van le: it's important that farmers and government reduce their expectations. it is difficult for us to pay 10% extra. farmers and government should reduce their expectations from 10% to 5%. this is an important factor in expanding the sector. reporter: for the time being, only 1% of shrimp production qualifies for organic certification. these shrimp are destined for canada. 400,000 people in the region work in aquacultures. today the shrimp farmers are picking up free shrimp larvae, financed by the project. they and tan viet ho will be releasing them into the water, close to mangroves.

it will take them five months to grow into black tiger shrimps. tan viet ho: the project helped me a lot. my wish is to receive continued support to make our lives and the lives of our neighbors better. more farmers should join the project. reporter: the snv project runs until mid-2016. by then, another 1300 shrimp farmers will have learned how to integrate their farms into the mangrove ecosystems. host: you can find out more on those shrimp farms in vietnam on our website. there you can also join our global debate. we'll be back again for you same time same place a week from now. for now, thanks for watching and bye-bye! [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ú

[traffic noise] >> all over new york city, you know, right now, there are myriads of people doing their thing. at 2:00 in the morning, they're doing their thing, which is to clean up the effluvia of the daytime people. the people who work from 9 to 5, and come in the next morning and find everything clean, and think the elves have done it. it's not true. it's the unsung heroes of new york city.