lara: this is “focus on europe.” i'm lara babalola. welcome. summer is upon us and europe is facing another drought. there are fears that the next ecological disaster is just around the corner, like the one on the oder river last summer. millions of dead fish were found floating on the border river between germany and poland. tons of carcasses were retrieved from the water. the high temperatures and low water levels caused an explosion of golden algae which is toxic for freshwater fish. and once again, dead fish are

piling up in the oder river. and the hunt for the cause is on, with the focus on areas in southwestern poland. scientists have detected extremely high levels of salt in the river's tributaries. salt promotes the growth of the toxic golden algae. environmentalists aren't the only ones alarmed by the threat of a new ecological disaster. ryszard gawron is a passionate fisher, but he is beginning to think his days of catching perch, pike, or zander in the oder are over. reporter: it seems to be happening again -- fish are dying off in the oder river, the border between poland and germany. we see them near floodgates. tributaries on the polish side are also affected, with recent reports of hundreds of kilos of dead fish, killed by golden algae.

ryszard gawron grew up along the oder, playing on the riverbanks. he's gone fishing there since childhood days. those days are over. ryszard: this is where i learned to fish, where i grew up. now, this is like an assault on my memories. reporter: in the summer of 2022, some 400 tons of fish -- about half of all fish stocks in the oder and its tributaries -- were found dead. analysts blamed high salinity in the river water. but where did all the salt come from? coal mines in the region are the prime suspects, dumping highly saline wastewater into the rivers. greenpeace asked chemistry professor leszek pazderski to investigate. when he tried to collect water samples near one of the mines, police and security personnel showed up. there were heated discussions. his investigation was clearly

unwanted. leszek: who are you anyway? maybe you could introduce yourself? oh, so you don't want to? then, you know what? to me, you're not even here. reporter: professor pazderski and his team are focusing on the halemba coal mine. they take water samples from the klodnica, a tributary of the oder. wastewater from the plant has already mixed with the river water here. pazderski's wife helps with the analysis. it shows a salt content six times higher than normal. leszek: of course, salts also occur naturally in water, but not in such large amounts. however, they are in very big amounts from wastewater from the mines. we will now make another

measurement of the salinity of the wastewater from the halemba mine. reporter: professor pazderski finds the mine's discharge pipe. this is where the wastewater flows into the river, day after day, almost continuously. the high salinity creates ideal conditions for golden algae. it normally thrives only in sea water, and it's lethal to fresh-water fish. the greenpeace activists measured alarmingly high salinity levels right here by the coal mines. leszek: so, as you can see, this is 18 times more than in clean river water. the problem of rising salinity will increase in intensity because the water levels are much lower in the summertime, especially when there are high temperatures, because water

evaporates. salt does not. reporter: when contacted, the mine management denied any responsibility for the fish die-off, insisting they observe all the legal requirements for wastewater disposal. polish industries dump waste into the oder and its tributaries through over 10,000 discharge pipes. and they do so quite legally. poland's limits for salt in wastewater are barely even defined. we enquire about the polish environment ministry's plans to reduce salinity in the rivers. the e-mailed response consisted of general information on water pollution control and an assurance that preventing such disasters in future had absolute priority, and not a word about salt contamination. reactions from the people who live on the oder are somewhat ambiguous. in wroclaw, some are outraged at the official response, while others haven't heard of the

recent fish die-off. >> these are political reasons. somebody doesn't want to name the culprit, and that's all. it's not true that the fish in the oder are healthy now. >> personally, we don't have that much contact with the water. we don't go fishing, so, we're not very interested in the issue. reporter: with each new report of dead fish in the oder, ryszard gawron, who once loved to go fishing, loses hope that anything will get better. ryszard: i've lost my confidence in this river. i don't trust this river. i don't see any point in going fishing in this polluted water. reporter: in autumn, poland will be holding elections, and may get a new government. it's a ray of hope for many along the oder, who would rather not just sit back and watch the fish die. lara: finding an affordable home in

london these days can feel like winning the lottery. britain's capital is one of the world's most expensive cities to rent in in the world. the market is so competitive that people often have to shell out big bucks for small spaces. people like louise hemfrey are experiencing the housing crisis first-hand. after a long search, she finally found an apartment to rent. but peace of mind is proving elusive with both her wallet and her nerves strained. reporter: home, sweet home. louise hemfrey never thought she'd be so happy to live in a one-bedroom apartment. she and her boyfriend joe pay the equivalent of 1600 euros rent, before utilities, for their 45 square meter flat. they live far from the center of london. both have university degrees and good jobs, and are in their early thirties. they found this apartment after two months of flat hunting.

they viewed dozens of places, and sometimes even paid for viewings. they were up against hundreds of other flat-hunters. louise: one of the places that i viewed when i was looking didn't even have a real kitchen. you essentially opened a cupboard and there was like a sink, a microwave, and fridge. and i just thought, oh my god, like, who lives like this? reporter: that's one reason why 33-year-old louise isn't too fussy about the state of her flat. their boiler was fixed after two months, but they still only have lukewarm water. the refrigerator is also broken, but the landlord is nowhere to be found. louise prefers it that way. otherwise, the landlord might consider raising the rent. louise: this building is a converted office block. so, in the wintertime, the damp and the mold is insane and there's -- i mean, there's

always damp and mold in british properties. i've never lived in a rental accommodation yet that didn't have damp and mold. but literally you'd wake up and there'd be like rivers running down the windows. you'd clean the mold away with special spray and a couple of days later it would have creeped back up the wall again. reporter: at least they don't have to move back in with their parents. throughout england, almost four million adults live with their parents -- that's 700,000 more than a decade ago. misguided policies caused the housing crisis gripping london and the rest of the country, says urban planning expert anna minton. 30 years ago, social housing construction was virtually abolished. millions of affordable social housing units were sold off. since then, the free market has dictated rents, which are rising dramatically. anna: people in london are spending on average more than 50% of their income on their housing costs. according to research, if you

spend more than 30% of your income on housing, that causes mental health problems, so there is no doubt that we are in a terrible situation with housing in london and in the u.k. more widely. reporter: in the u.k., many believe the market will sort it out. plenty of residential properties are going up. anna: they're sold off plan before they've even been built, and they're sold in foreign property investment fairs around the world rather than to londoners. prices which far exceed what the majority of londoners could afford. reporter: numerous london homes are empty, serving merely as financial investments or speculative purchases. minton says the problem can only be tackled with major political interventions in the housing

market, with solutions like a rent cap, setting up a comprehensive social housing program, and battling speculators and greedy landlords. lyn pearman fell victim to one of them. now, she is homeless and lives in a camper van, which she's parked in margate, on the coast, two hours' drive from london. after being kicked out of her apartment, lyn sold all her valuables and bought this van. lyn: yeah, i just thought, why not give it a go. i've got nothing to lose. i couldn't see -- you can't even get a room for the money that i was allowed. and take the rest of it out with my pension would mean i would just not be surviving, especially with the cost of living going up with the electric, the gas, and all the bills. reporter: lyn lost her flat when her rent increased from 500 euros to 820 euros. at the time, she was working as fitness coach and caring for a mother suffering from dementia. today, her pension is enough to

pay for petrol. she's got 12 euros a day for food and takes showers at friends' homes. lyn shares her experience on tiktok, where's she's got over 55,000 followers. still, she remains optimistic. lyn: i'm not an angry person. i always see a positive in every negative, and i think, you know, the way i feel right now, i don't know -- come back in six months' time when i'm freezing. reporter: lyn says her story borders on the romantic or even kitsch. but for young people, she thinks, it's much harder. lyn: i'll just do it as long as i can. no one knows what's around the corner, do they? reporter: keep calm and carry on, muddle through. until winter, when it gets cold. louise and joe calculated what it would cost to buy a home. there's no way they could afford it. the government's reckless fiscal policy has driven up

interest rates on loans over the past year. no wonder, louise says, that young voters don't care for the conservatives. louise: i would love to leave the country. i studied -- i think i said already i lived in switzerland, i studied there for two years. i think one of my biggest regrets is not working harder at the time to try and get a job in switzerland, because then -- it was before brexit. reporter: renting and buying homes is getting more expensive all the time in the u.k., so much so it could become the privilege of the rich. but it's this lack of affordable housing that might sweep the conservative government out of office next year. lara: from a housing shortage to a labor shortage in romania, where hundreds of thousands have left the country since 2007, when romania joined the european union. the lure of higher wages in western europe has led to a huge gap in the work force. the construction industry, hospitals, and hotels are all feeling the pinch of personnel,

including in the city of constsanta. for nicolae bucovala, a hotel owner, the answer lies in recruiting migrant workers from asia. an idea supported by the government in bucharest. but for many of those arriving from overseas, romania is simply a gateway to a better life in europe. nicolae: do you have problems with the swimming pool? reporter: time is scarce. nicolae bucovala owns several hotels. everything must be ready before the summer guests arrive. his biggest headache? lack of workers. nicolae: nothing works without foreign workers. i myself don't know how to convince a romanian, who works in france, for example, to come back. sometimes you would like to sell everything. i don't know, every morning i ask myself, what's next? reporter: he is in the middle of a crisis that began years ago -- labor shortage.

since romania joined the eu in 2007, many romanians have emigrated to western europe. they are needed here at the black sea coast and beyond. an estimated half a million romanian jobs are unfilled. the reason is obvious. >> the salaries that romania offers are not attractive to this generation and that's why they go abroad. reporter: these people are here to fill the gap. workers from asia -- nepal, india, pakistan. those waiting here in front of the bucharest immigration office have paid up to 6000 euros to job placement agencies in their home country to legally immigrate to romania. they have visas, but there are problems with the residence permit, the trc card. >> i've been queuing up here for two months and never pick my i.d. what's happening?

>> my visa is only for three months. my visa has expired. i need a trc card. reporter: the immigration office is overwhelmed by the government's new strategy. romania wants to grant 100,000 work permits to non-eu citizens this year. in 2017, romania gave out a mere 5500 permits. for romanian employers like nicolae, the process is slow. his hotel kitchen is still understaffed. nicolae: do you cook rice? udayanga: no, potato with meat. reporter: udayanga dissanayake and his colleague samir are both from sri lanka. they've never worked as cooks before. nicolae: the vast majority have not worked in the industry. the agency tells us that they already have experience, but that's nonsense. they haven't worked anywhere, or, if they did, they haven't

worked in the position where we need them. reporter: the romanian colleagues train everyone as quickly as possible. >> uday, are schnitzels ready? and the chicken wings? udayanga: yes. reporter: today they are preparing cascaval pane, breaded cheese. a classic and easy romanian dish. udayanga: since we came here, we've learned a lot about romanian food. reporter: they have been working here already since last year -- it's unusual, and a stroke of luck for the kitchen chef. claudia: i am happy. they both stayed in romania, unlike others who just left. it makes things a bit easier for us. they have adapted and we do not have to start from scratch. reporter: many try to move, undocumented, to western europe using romania as a springboard, the staff explains. udayanga wants to stay, he says. he earns 500 euros a month.

he shares this room in the hotel with his colleague. the 26-year-old misses his family, but says going back is not an option. udayanga: i love sri lanka, but the thing is, the economy is not that good. it's really hard to survive. some days i prepared some food and sold it for neighbors. we had that kind of life over there. reporter: he studied tourism, he says, but only earned 50 euros a month with occasional jobs there. romania appears to him as a country full of opportunities. udayanga: they are offering so many jobs for asians. i see so many people who are doing fast food deliveries, restaurants, and people like us working in hotels. so many vacancies over here. reporter:

he doesn't see much of the beach. during the busy summer months, he works seven days a week, and sends most of his money home to his parents. one day, he says, he will have his own business, perhaps in the u.k. nearby, workers from india are building this high-rise with luxury apartments. off camera, we learn that here, five people share a single room. and not everyone building romania's future wants to stay for the long-term. higher salaries in western europe for the same job are tempting. lara: they can be a lifeline for those trapped under rubble. sniffer dogs, with their heightened sense of smell, are crucial for rescue efforts after an earthquake hits. they were deployed in turkey earlier this year when a quake in the region left tens of thousands dead. and experts warn that it's just a matter of time before the next one comes. that has motivated dog trainer göktan eker to fine tune the noses of his canine friends.

and in his hometown of istanbul, göktan is spoiled for choice. reporter: begging, dozing, playing, or just roaming around -- stray dogs are part of istanbul's cityscape. their numbers are estimated at half a million and growing. many turks find them annoying. but now and then the dogs meet a friendly face, like göktan eker's. he is a dog trainer and always stops his car to pet a pooch at the roadside. göktan: i think that black female has had bad experiences with people. but this male is trusting. he probably had a family and was abandoned. reporter: eker has a vision, for dogs and humans. today he is looking for a special kind of street dog, with intelligence, good character, and instinct.

göktan: i'm looking for dogs i can train. first, we have to help them get over their street trauma. then they can get used to people and, if possible, learn to be sniffer dogs. reporter: tracking and rescue dogs are especially needed after the earthquakes which repeatedly strike turkey. february's catastrophic quake took the lives of at least 50,000 people in the southeast. search dogs helped rescue dozens, but there weren't enough. most of the dogs came from abroad. göktan eker arrives at an animal shelter looking for suitable candidates for his project. for many years he worked for a police canine drug unit. he knows what to look for in a dog. göktan:

this one is very sociable and isn't afraid of people. first, i check to see if it's healthy. then i watch how it gets along with other dogs, and finally with people. reporter: eker himself was a rescuer in the earthquake zone, but without dogs, because his were not yet trained for rescue work. now he wants to change that quickly so he will be prepared for the next disaster. göktan: well-trained dogs are unbeatable for finding buried victims. they should always come before technical means. their agility and nose make them fast and efficient. that's why we need many more such tracking dogs. reporter: eker has started an appeal and numerous dog owners have answered. it is training day for the sniffer dogs at his grounds

outside istanbul. bahar senbahar has come with her mongrel mabel, a former street dog. bahar: i felt so depressed and helpless after the earthquake that i wanted to contribute. that way we would be better prepared next time. that's why i'm here. reporter: then dog and owner have to show what they have learned. one more sniff, then it's off to search for a missing person in the woods. mabel finds the scent quickly. and stays sitting next to the person. like in the textbook. and mabel is not the only one to prove her suitability as a search dog today. göktan: we want more respect for dogs

on the street. every nuisance street dog that is poisoned or otherwise killed could have saved human lives. reporter: an international judge has traveled for the next day's test. she is enthusiastic about eker's plan to train rescued street dogs to rescue people. mirka: these dogs deserve a better life. and not just a better life, but one with purpose. that's wonderful. reporter: it's time. bahar senbahar and mabel are first up. a quick sniff of the missing person's scent, then dog and owner have 20 minutes. this time, they're too slow. but it isn't the dog's fault.

bahar: i was nervous and led her the wrong way. it's the first time we've both been tested in such a situation. but we still want to tackle the building debris search test. i hope we can make it. reporter: it takes patience and hard training to turn mabel the street dog into a life saver. but göktan eker is holding fast to his plan to train enough rescue dogs throughout turkey for the hour of need. there certainly are more than enough dogs to choose from. lara: who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? that's all from us this week at “focus on europe.” thanks so much for watching. bye for now. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute,

which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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