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Episode 2

Documentary following some of the million people who smuggled themselves into Europe in 2015, including Syrian Kurd Ahmad, whose journey continues as he reaches Athens.

Twelve months ago, the production team began giving camera phones to people attempting to reach Europe, escaping war, poverty or persecution. They were prepared to film where regular film crews could not go: on the inflatable dinghies crossing from Turkey to Greece, in the back of lorries entering the Eurotunnel, or on open trucks driven by people smugglers across the Sahara.

Ahmad's journey continues in this second episode. A Syrian Kurd, he has reached Athens, and rather than take the long and uncertain overland route through Europe, he negotiates with a smuggler for a fake passport that he can use to fly to France. With his wife and young daughters trapped in Syria, time is of the essence. In Calais, his first attempt to cross the Channel almost results in suffocation in a flour tanker. But he refuses to give up on Britain.

Also leaving Athens is 24-year-old Sadiq from Afghanistan, fleeing Taliban repression and violence and heading to Finland - a country of which he's never even seen a picture.

Meanwhile, 11-year-old Isra'a and her family group of 16 people, including babies and her severely disabled sister, are approaching the Serbian border. They are shocked by the total chaos that greets them and are forced to spend hours in the mud and pouring rain with no certainty that they will be able to continue their journey to Germany.

Filmed by both production and the refugees themselves, the result is a terrifyingly intimate yet uniquely epic portrait of the biggest movement of people that Europe has seen since World War II.

1 hour

Credits

Role Contributor
Director James Bluemel
Series Producer Jane Merkin
Series Editor Simon Sykes

Broadcasts

Learn more with The Open University

Visit the OU鈥檚 Exodus free learning website at OpenLearn.

The stories behind the journeys

Find out why Hassan, Isra'a, Ahmad and Sadiq left their homes to pursue a life in Europe.