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Migrant Crisis in Europe; Drowned Boy's Family Trying to Reach Relatives in Canada; The Life of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon; Woman and Her Husband Rescue Syrian Refugee; Demands for U.K. Government to Help Refugees; Aired 10-11 ET
Aired September 03, 2015 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST: Hi, there, welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow at the CNN Center. And we begin now with the latest
developments in Europe's spiraling migrant crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (voice-over): The French president says France and Germany will make joint proposals on how to host refugees and distribute them
fairly across Europe. It comes as police in Hungary stopped trains carrying Syrian refugee families just outside Budapest.
Some migrants had waited for days to board the trains. But Hungary's prime minister says his country isn't to blame for the situation. He says
the problem is a German problem.
Details now on the Hungarian prime minister's comments. He's in Brussels to discuss the migrant crisis with other E.U. members. He spoke
to reporters earlier and he did not mince his words. Viktor Orban says Hungary is just trying to enforce E.U. rules and that the problem is not of
his country's making.
VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER: , The problem is not a European problem. The problem is a German problem. Nobody would like to
stay in Hungary. But we don't have difficulties with those who would like to stay in Hungary. Nobody would like to stay in Hungary, neither in
Slovakia nor Poland or Estonia. All of them would like to go to Germany. Our job is only to register them. So if the German chancellor insists on
that nobody can leave Hungary without registration to go to Germany, we will register them. It's a must.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: The prime minister also said without strict border controls, E.U. migrant quotas are an invitation for people to come. And he had this
advice for the migrants themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ORBAN: So the moral human thing is to make clear, please, don't come. Why you have to go from Turkey to Europe? Turkey is a safe country. Stay
there. It's risky to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Tough words there and a very different perspective coming from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is also speaking out about the
crisis. Her tone, of course, completely different.
She told reporters in Switzerland that binding quotas are needed within the European Union to share the burden. She said that's the
principle of solidarity. Here's more of what the chancellor had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY (through translator): . those who need protection -- and given the situation of civil wars, we are
talking about many people -- those people need protection, we are obliged, we are committed to giving them shelter. We are giving them protection.
Of course, you have to bear in mind the strength of the economy of the country, the population of the country. We need to work on the structure
elements of such a solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Let's bring in our Hala Gorani for more on all of this. She's covering the migrant crisis from Berlin, Germany. We heard the
chancellor there. We've also, in the last half an hour, heard the French leader saying time to act, what we have done is not enough. We have the
will to take the initiative.
Really strong words coming from some European leaders.
HALA GORANI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, we'll see, though, Robyn, in fact, translates into concrete action. That's going to be the big question.
Right now the front line of this refugee crisis is Hungary, where you had thousands of desperate refugees wanting to board trains bound for Germany
and Austria.
One of those trains left the Budapest train station just a few hours ago. And Arwa Damon is on board that migrant train. It has been stopped
outside of the capital for several hours now. Arwa has been covering this crisis for CNN since the start. And there is no one better right now at
our network to tell this side of the story.
Arwa, you're on the phone. You're on that train.
Is it still stopped?
What's going on on board?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It still is, Hala. And it's been about four hours since this train first left Budapest.
A short while ago, the children were all crying because none of their parents had calculated that they would be stuck like this.
So they're hungry, they're tired; the heat inside these train cars, absolutely suffocating and no one dares try to get off then or go outside
because they're afraid that there might be some sort of operation by the Hungarian police that are on one of the platforms, to round them up and
take them to one of the refugees camps that is not far away from where we are.
Hala, there are kids sleeping in the corridor next to their parents. There are kids sleeping on top of the seats, on top of the tables
everywhere. People really not sure at this stage what to do with themselves.
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DAMON: They are all just so exhausted. They've been through so much. They've taken so many risks and it's all really especially hard for the
parents, who are having to look at their children, who all they want to do is protect, provide for and give them that chance at life they thought they
had in Europe and now having to see them, yet another day, going through what can only be really described as very difficult and almost unbearable
circumstances -- Hala.
GORANI: So, Arwa, let's set the scene for us there, hundreds of refugees. They want to get to Germany. They're on that train. They just
hopped on that train after having spent days sleeping on the floor of that Budapest train station.
And now what is their biggest concern?
Is there a fear that they might be pulled off the train, that police might storm the train?
What is their biggest concern now?
DAMON: Exactly that, Hala. They do not, absolutely do not want to go into the refugee camps in Hungary and that is by and large because the vast
majority of them transited through one of the camps that is located on the Hungarian-Serbian border and they described, in their own words, as they
call "inhumane circumstances."
They said they were treated like animals, that their basic rights were not respected, that they were degraded and their entire experiences, some
of them say they were beaten, forced into giving their fingerprints.
And one very traumatized by their experiences that they went through there. And that is why they don't want to go back into a camp.
Added onto that is, of course, their deep desperate desire to reach Western Europe, because they do believe that in Western Europe, that is a
part of the world where they can seek in building a future, any sort of future. And they are afraid that if they go into these camps here, they
will get stuck.
They do not feel that the Hungarian authorities have their best interests at heart. They're absolutely deathly terrified of the police.
And that's why they're sitting on this train and not getting off of it.
For a brief period of time, Hala, there were some small groups that loitered around the entrances to the train, the doorways. But then
whenever these Hungarian police began making a move or appearing to make a move, they would all jump back on board. That's how frightened they are.
And the minute the children feel that chaos, that sense of fear amongst the adults, they all start crying once again as well.
GORANI: But this is not a tenable situation, as you know, Arwa. You're on board the train. I mean, at some point, these desperate people
are going to run out of water. They're going to run out of food. At some point, something's going to have to move in one direction or another.
What are their options?
DAMON: Well, then the problem, Hala, is that they actually already have. They have run out of food. The kids are all telling their parents
that they're hungry. There were a few water bottles that were being passed around. That is running low as well. They don't know what to do.
But whenever they begin talking about getting off the train or not, everyone says, no, no, no, stay on it. You can't get off. You cannot go
into the camps. It is an untenable situation. It is one that is making these people's misery all that much worse when, in fact, the powers that be
should be doing something to try to alleviate it.
Every single nation, Hala, as you've been reporting as well, is saying that it is adhering to the Dublin agreement.
Well, that agreement cannot be applied to this situation, this number of refugees that are coming through Europe. And the longer it takes the
leading politicians to come up with some sort of a solution, the longer these people, that are amongst the most vulnerable populations in the
world, continue to suffer like this.
A lot of them don't understand why; they cannot comprehend how it is that they've reached here and they're treated like this.
GORANI: All right. Arwa Damon is on board a train that is stopped several miles outside of Budapest, the Hungarian capital, with refugees on
board. They were hoping to make it to Austria and Germany. That train has stopped. The Hungarian prime minister is saying essentially that they are
simply obeying E.U. rules. He had some advice for the refugees earlier. He was speaking in Brussels, saying essentially, stay in Turkey, it's safe
there. Don't come to Europe.
Now there was one image that went viral yesterday and it really touched the hearts of millions around the world. It's on the front pages
of practically every newspaper here in Europe, that of a little dead Syrian boy, 3 years old, who was photographed drowned, lying face down on a
Turkish beach.
Here's more on the story of Aylan Kurdi, who died at 3 years old, trying to make the dangerous crossing from Bodrum to the Greek island of
Kos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI (voice-over): We now know his name, Aylan Kurdi, 3 years old. The picture of him face down on a Turkish beach appeared millions of times
around the world on social media.
On the front pages of --
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GORANI (voice-over): -- virtually every European newspaper, an image symbolic of war-ravaged people, overwhelming some parts of Europe.
"The Daily Mail" in the U.K. showed Aylan in the arms of a Turkish police man, tiny victim of a human catastrophe. In Germany, not even a
headline for "Bild," just the image with plain text urging Europe to act.
Even in the U.S., a full front page picture in "The Daily News," with the headline, "The Dead Sea."
Aylan Kurdi's family is from Kobani in Syria. They are Kurdish. His aunt shared this picture of the 3-year old and his 5-year-old brother,
Ghalib, on Facebook. Both boys drowned in the waters between Turkey and Greece. So did their mother.
They wanted to reach Canada, where Aylan's aunt in Vancouver had filed a refugee application last spring with the help of a local MP.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I delivered the letter to the minister and nothing. We waited and waited and we didn't have any action.
GORANI (voice-over): In June, the family was told their request was rejected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now, unfortunately, we see the news and this is just horrific that she now learns through the media, seeing a picture of
her nephew in the news.
GORANI (voice-over): Aylan's father survived the sea crossing. He told a Turkish journalist that he wants to go back to Syria to bury his
family and be buried alongside them.
Leaving behind the beach where the death of a single little boy has brought into focus an image of suffering that now has a face and a name for
the world to see -- Hala Gorani, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, Paula Newton joins me now from our New York bureau.
Paula, you're usually based in Canada and many people have been asking the question, look, it's a Syrian family from Kobani that was invaded by
ISIS then went through all the drama that it went through with coalition airstrikes, people having to flee.
If a Syrian family from Kobani gets their refugee application rejected, I mean, who's going to be accepted in Canada?
People have been raising that question.
How does it work over there?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Hala, look, people have been raising this question for years. Syrian activists, who've been saying,
look, we have families that are stuck in these refugee camps.
Hala, I know you've been there -- Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey -- we want to bring them home to us in Canada.
As you know, Canada has a tradition of being a safe harbor of really accepting these refugees. It seems like this case -- and it's a very
familiar one, Hala -- got bogged down in documents, documents, proof that the families need.
Now having said that, there have been a lot of complaints over the last few years that Canada isn't taking enough of the Syrian refugees. We
just have a few thousand resettled to date.
I have to tell you, Hala, this has really resulted in a full political crisis in Canada right now. The immigration minister, Chris Alexander
(ph), is suspending a reelection campaign because of this issue. We are in the middle of an election campaign in Canada.
And he's saying, look, I'm going back up to Ottawa to my office to see why this happened. But as the family knows all too well, Hala, it is far
too late.
And, Hala, I have heard it. There are families pleading all over the world, Canada specifically saying, look, there are international laws on
the books that say that you need to take these families, that you actually adhere to those U.N. conventions that say you need to take the families.
One problem, Hala, of course, is that Canada, along with some other countries, are prioritizing Christians and Yazidis.
Now having said that, those are persecuted groups, as you know. But the vast majority of these refugees are Muslim. And I think that this is
also leading to a lot of confusion in Canada and, quite frankly, many Canadians are puzzled, especially those that you know have support when
they land in Canada.
It is families trying to sponsor their own. And it's depressing, because a lot of these children would be starting school next week in
Canada, Hala. But instead, they're stuck in trains and in campaign.
GORANI: But could you clear something up for me? Because if authorities are saying this was a paperwork issue, the reports are that the
application was actually rejected. So they had made it to the relevant authorities and that they made a decision not to accept this asylum
application.
Is that report accurate?
NEWTON: We have no idea and I'll tell you why, because every time you ask the immigration department, they say they can't divulge that because it
is a private issue.
Now I have made more appeals to Chris Alexander (ph), the immigration minister, to see if he has any more information. But make no mistake,
Hala, every family trying to resettle their loved ones go through this. It's paperwork after paperwork that doesn't get completed.
It gets rejected. That doesn't mean it's a final point on that. Sometimes they send them back to the drawing board.
Well, how are you supposed to get these documents in Kobani, where this family was from?
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NEWTON: Having said that, Canada also says it has a responsibility, obviously, to screen who is coming in. They say they are doing the best
they can. But clearly, that has not been good enough.
And really the crisis in Europe being mirrored in places like Canada, even in the United States, where people are saying, look, why can't you
resettle more of these refugees and do what we have always done globally, which is try to really act in a humane way for people who are obviously
fleeing other war-torn countries?
GORANI: Well, it's too late certainly for that family and those two young boys, Aylan Kurdi and his brother, his 5-year-old brother and their
mother as well, who drowned trying to make that dangerous crossing.
Paula Newton is in New York. Thanks very much.
The boy and his family may have been from Kobani, Syria, the city just south of the Turkish border is in ruins after a long and bloody siege by
ISIS militants. Four years of civil war in Syria has forced millions of people to flee. And of course, children are among them.
Let's get more from Nick Paton Walsh, who joins us from Beirut.
When you hear of a family fleeing Kobani, is there any doubt that they had a choice, Nick?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, my colleague, Raja Razek, our producer here, has just finished talking to the father of
Aylan Kurdi, and obviously a man in deep shock.
He sighed during an interview and obviously said, "I wish we had never got on that boat," expressed frankly how his entire life has vanished.
We're assuming that to be the case, given he's the sole survivor of his family from there.
He went on to explain how while they had lived for a while in Damascus in 2012, they moved to Kobani, where he, in fact, married somebody from
Kobani and then when it was the violence that broke out, in fact, in that city of Kobani, remember, Hala, as we all know, it sat in Northern Syria on
the border with Turkey.
That was when they left to come to Turkey. Now of course, obviously, the subsequent journey on to the shoreline of Bodrum is, many would say, a
part of their choice to look for a better life. We understand from the father that this was, in fact, their third attempt to try and cross here,
except they did use smugglers to get themselves on that dinghy.
And in fact, their final destination was Sweden, in fact. But this obviously part of a pattern we've seen, of people here who feel their
choices in Turkey are limited, that it's hostile, increasingly hostile, in fact, as Turkey struggles to simply deal with the burden of so many Syrians
looking to make their life there, that they seek to live elsewhere, particularly in Europe, particularly somewhere like Sweden with a very
established infrastructure system, particularly for asylum seekers.
But this story horrifying as it is, horrifying that it isn't kept -- horrifyingly, morbidly mesmerizing, that image of a child on the beach, is
one of millions you hear here in this region, where, frankly, where I'm standing in Lebanon, one in four people you will meet in this country is a
Syrian refugee.
We spoke to just two of the children who fled Aleppo, also in Northern Syria, and try and find a life for themselves here on the streets of
Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice-over): In the hustle and hedonism of Central Beirut, bars aglow brings little comfort to the youngest on the street.
Little and Big Ahmed share more than a name. They're both from Aleppo. Both lost their fathers to the war and both their families share
one small room. But they also share what they call a business: flowers.
"Over there in Syria we did not sell," Big Ahmed said.
"We used to go to school and learn. We came here because of the shelling. There used to be planes that would come, and bombs. I haven't
been to school in a year, I like school -- Arabic and English -- everything.
"Maybe I'll be a doctor, maybe a teacher. I could teach English to people and Arabic, like I learn."
Europe isn't something they really know much about; instead, this is their patch until after midnight. If they try to sell further up the
street, they say drunk men demand $30 each night.
Little Ahmed doesn't want his face shown, in case people think he's poor.
"The world will hear that we are beggars," he says.
"I don't like that, because I am a flower seller. I came from Aleppo with Mum and Dad, but we didn't come on the same van. The one Dad was in
exploded on the way and lots of people died with him."
You literally walk into stories like this in a country where one in four people you meet will be a Syrian refugee. The region torn up by the
displacement of millions of Syrians, where aid workers speak of a lost generation of children who've never really known education or stability and
whose scars will be felt --
[10:20:00]
WALSH: -- in the Middle East for decades to come.
This really is a family business, Little Ahmed walking us to this mother's spot at the traffic lights. Beirut streets heave with those who
don't have the money to go to Europe. His mother wouldn't show her face and said she wouldn't risk her children's lives to smugglers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Would I risk a boat to Europe? No. It is difficult here but we are alive. I've heard of people
who make that choice. It is because they want better. Here you get to sleep here without shelling over your head. But I prefer Syria. We will
definitely go back one day.
WALSH (voice-over): It's mere miles away; Syria's war finds endless ways to darken. Big and Little Ahmed head home through streets that are
not their home, that they may never leave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH: Now, Hala, those images you see there, that's so commonplace here in Beirut.
You've been here yourself -- that the sheer volume of Syrians living in abandoned buildings, living in fields where they pay rent just for a
piece of space to pitch their tent, doing it illegally much of the time and living often, no one really knowing quite how many of them simply are here
in conditions that are increasingly difficult, as Lebanon itself just struggles to deal with this enormous burden of well over a million refugees
-- Hala.
GORANI: Well, when you look at the actual percentage of the population in Lebanon compared to European countries, of course, it's on a
completely different scale. There was a U.N. report published yesterday that 13 million children across the Middle East and North Africa are now
out of school. And one has to wonder generationally what kind of impact that will have on the population in a country like Lebanon -- Nick.
WALSH: In Lebanon and also Syria, very minor at some point, Hala. No one really knows when or how. But the war in Syria will eventually end.
And then who is left to pick up the pieces?
Who is left to rebuild a modern society?
Are they educated simply elsewhere to be able to want to go back?
That's one thing some aid workers talk about, is the brain drain heading to Europe, those with the ability, the means to flee Turkey or the
neighboring states. They leave behind a society of expatriate refugees, the diaspora in Turkey, who will struggle to find the resources perhaps to
get together and rebuild their country.
I should tell you one more thing, Hala, from talking to Abdullah, the father of that tragically killed Syrian child everyone's seen on the
beaches of Bodrum, he has explained how he doesn't want to see his children buried in Turkey, that he does want to take them to Kobani.
And one more tragic detail he mentioned to us, horrifying, really, described how the dinghy, the boat they were in, felt so extraordinarily
heavy. And you have to weigh in your mind the choices made by parents in those situations, the desire so strong to get to a new kind of life in
Europe, the risks they're willing to put their family through and, in this case, the horrifying results of that decision -- Hala.
GORANI: Nick Paton Walsh is live in Beirut, thanks very much.
Just a quick note: our Arwa Damon has just tweeted and we've been covering that story from the train just outside of Budapest that has
stopped with hundreds of refugees on board, that loudspeakers have told them to get off the train and board a bus to camps for processing. Many of
them are refusing.
We'll continue to follow that story and the unfolding refugee crisis in Europe a little bit later in the problem. Stay with CNN. Robyn Curnow
will join you next.
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CURNOW: Welcome back. We'll continue our coverage of the unfolding migrant crisis in Europe a little bit later on the show. But for now, I
want to give you an update on world markets.
Investors are getting a break from market volatility in China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (voice-over): They're closed there for a two-day holiday. Right now, the Wall Street -- that's what Wall Street is looking at, the
Dow Jones is just over 140 points up.
Right. Let's take a look at what's happening in Europe, too. There's about an hour left in the trading day in Europe and the major indices are
all well into positive territory. There you can see the numbers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Iran's Supreme Leader says he backs the parliamentary vote on the historic nuclear deal reached with six world powers. Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei made the comments earlier, according to state television. Khamenei also says sanctions should be lifted and not temporarily
suspended. Otherwise, he said, Iran would only suspend its nuclear activities.
The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, and his allies oppose a parliamentary vote, arguing it would interfere with the deal's
implementation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote next week to approve or reject the deal.
And the Democratic front-runner in the U.S. race for president is in the spotlight on Capitol Hill today. Former secretary of state Hillary
Clinton's ex-chief of staff is being questioned by lawmakers.
Cheryl Mills is appearing before a House committee that investigating the 2012 consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya. She'll be also asked her
understanding of Clinton's email arrangement at the time.
And Brian Pagliano, a former State Department employee who worked on Clinton's private email server, has told Congress he will invoke his 5th
Amendment not to testify before the committee.
Guatemala's president has resigned amid a corruption scandal hours after a warrant for his arrest was issued. The move paves the way for Otto
Perez Molina to now be prosecuted. He and a group of close aides are accused of taking bribes in exchange for easing taxes on companies.
The attorney general says Molina is prohibited from leaving the country.
You're watching the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Ahead, we return to our top story, Europe's migrant crisis, and more details on a dramatic rescue in
the Aegean Sea. Stay with us.
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CURNOW: Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. Here's a check of the headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (voice-over): Trains carrying migrants trying to get out of Hungary have been stopped at a station just outside Budapest. Police are
along the rails, ordering passengers to get off the trains and board a bus to camps for processing. Many of the passengers are refusing to get off.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is speaking out about the crisis. She told reporters in Switzerland that binding quotas are needed within the
European Union to share the burden. She said that's the principle of solidarity. Many of the migrants want to go to Germany.
China is showing off its military weaponry in a extravaganza that marks 70 years since the end of World War II. President Xi Jinping
announced his country is dedicated to peace and will cut about 300,000 troops. The presidents of Russia and South Korea attended the event.
More than 1,000 French farmers are driving their tractors into Paris to protest plummeting food prices. They wanted to clog the capital's
roadways Thursday but many Parisians heeded calls to avoid using their cars. The farmers say high costs and low food prices are creating an
agricultural crisis in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: A Greek woman is being hailed for her rescue of a Syrian refugee in the Aegean Sea. Sandra Tsiligeridu was boating with friends and
family when she spotted Mohammed Besmar adrift in the water.
Sandra joins me live via Skype from Athens with the details.
Hi, there, Sandra. We've seen this very powerful and provocative image of you on the boat after this rescue.
But just tell us what happened to lead up to that moment.
SANDRA TSILIGERIDU, SYRIAN REFUGEE RESCUER: Hello from Greece. Thank you very much. We were having holidays with my family at Kos island and
Thursday, the 27th of August, we went for a day trip to Pserimos. It's a small island about 10 miles away from Kos.
But returning, there was a lot of wind and fiber force (ph) and I was afraid. So I asked my friends to return more quickly.
In the middle of the sea, we saw two hands waving. My husband and friends thought that he is a diver. So they turned right to avoid him, so
that we would not pass across him.
But when I looked at him, I saw that this man was in real danger and he needed help. So I screamed to my husband to turn back. We went back; I
caught his hands. All of us, we helped to put him on the boat. He was in a really bad position (sic). He was shaking. He had hypothermia.
And thank God, my husband is a doctor. And he gave him the first aid. He was shaking so much and I took immediately out towels and I wrapped him
because I wanted him to feel warmer. I was crying the whole time because I saw a human being inside the water. And I felt so sorry for him.
Then we called immediately the coast guard and they told us his story. He left 5 o'clock in the night with other 40 Syrians from Turkey with two
oars, no machine, to come to Greece. Because it was night and it was a lot of buffers (ph), the one oar left into the sea so that Mohammed Besmar --
it's the name of the man that we saved -- he was the bravest of all.
And he jumped into the water because on the boat there was a pregnant woman and another friend of him, that he was sick. So he did that. He
went into the water to get the oar. But the waves, they were so big that they lost him. He couldn't go back to the boat.
And the only thing that they could is to throw to him --
[10:35:00]
TSILIGERIDU: -- one life vest. After the coast guard, they told us that the other 39 people they got to Kos island at 12 o'clock noon and so
they told them that one person is missing. The coast guard were looking at him five hours; they couldn't find him and they thought that he was
drowned.
What else?
CURNOW: What else? How long had he been in the water by the time you found him?
And what did he say?
TSILIGERIDU: He couldn't speak. He was in a very bad position (sic). He had hypothermia. He told me after, when we talk on the phone, that 10
or 15 minutes more and he would -- he couldn't live.
CURNOW: You said in another interview that he treaded water for 13 hours. Once you have spoken to him -- and you've spoken to him since, as
you said, what is his story?
Where did he come from and what's he going to do now?
How is he?
TSILIGERIDU: You know, he is very well. He came today to our tents and I don't know if today or tomorrow, I'm going to meet him on private to
see how is he, to talk to him and to see what are his plans from now on.
I have no clue what is he and how is he -- he came here and what is his story. But tomorrow, we'll have more details, because we are going to
meet him.
CURNOW: No doubt that's going to be an emotional reunion.
Just give us some sense. You were on holiday. You were on a speedboat, this contradiction between your life out there, having a
holiday, and then meeting up with someone like Mohammed.
Do you think Europe's leaders have done enough?
TSILIGERIDU: No. No. And if you give me some moments to explain you what is happening, I will be really glad.
As European citizens, we should be peaceful, civilized, humane, feel safe and have respect and solidarity; instead of these things we feel fear,
anger, indignation, insecure and unsafe. I am a simple citizen. I have no power. All of us, we have lost our values. We have lost our orientation.
Everyone is in war with everyone. We never hear good news. I have got millions of messages all over the world from all the Muslims, from Brazil,
from Chile, from Argentina, from Europe, all over the world, saying thank you and wishing me blessed and giving me love because I did the obvious.
The obvious I did.
If I want to call myself a human being, I have to act like one. Everybody -- I didn't do nothing. I didn't do nothing. I'm not a hero.
All the messages, they say that I am a hero. I think everybody, I want to believe that everybody who lives in this world and wants to call himself a
human being would do the same thing. We're not in a jungle. We are human beings.
CURNOW: Sandra, thank you so much for telling us your story, giving us your opinion and, no doubt, you and Mohammed tomorrow will also embrace,
perhaps in the same way that you did on that boat when you first rescued him. We hope to talk to you again about that meeting. Thank you very
much.
TSILIGERIDU: One last thing: refugees are innocent people. They are poor souls, driven away from home, not by choice but by war. They deserve
our respect and help. I will not stop crying and I will cry again and again until my tears get to the politicians all over the world to make this
world a better place to live for us, for all of us, for our children, for everybody.
God bless us all. Thank you.
CURNOW: Thank you very much, heartfelt words felt by many people across Europe, you're not alone, I don't think. Thank you, Sandra.
And from Sweden to Greece to Germany, many Europeans are like Sandra, extending a helping hand, trying to even house migrants. But a new poll
suggests --
[10:40:00]
CURNOW: -- not everyone is happy about the new arrivals.
In France, 56 percent of people said they don't want their country to take in more refugees, including those from Syria. That's according to a
poll conducted for BFM TV.
Meanwhile, the Italian prime minister says despite the heartbreaking images, Europe can't afford to get emotional about the migrant crisis,
referring to a photograph of that young boy lying dead on a Turkish beach.
Matteo Renzi said, quote, "Faced with these images which tear and move the hearts of every father, we must be aware that we need a global strategy
and Europe cannot lose face."
So how's the British public reacting to the migrant crisis?
I'm joined now by Max Foster at CNN London.
You heard Sandra, very emphatic, very brave words from one woman.
What's the reaction in Britain to what is unfolding?
MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Well, I have to say this image of the young boy on the beach has a huge impact here. There's been a big debate. Migration
has been a big debate, immigration in the election earlier this year. And it continues to be a big talking point.
But largely, that was a debate about economic migration, should all of those migrants in Calais and France be allowed to cross the border in the
U.K. General agreement amongst politicians have actually been controlled.
But what this image did of this young boy was really -- showed the emphasis of those who were fleeing desperately areas where they are -- they
just cannot live anymore. So it was a different type of migration that Britain needs to be talking about.
David Cameron's government has insisted they don't think the solution is to allow more immigrants in. And they said the same again today. David
Cameron was speaking today.
But huge pressure on him -- this is "The Sun" newspaper, traditionally Cameron supporter; it's a Rupert Murdoch paper. And today they are
actually calling on David Cameron after summer holiday, making the point -- he's just been back -- say now deal with the biggest crisis facing Europe
since World War II and saying actually, we should be allow more of these desperate people into the United Kingdom.
But again, David Cameron has reiterated his position today, saying he doesn't think that's a solution. He thinks the solution is dealing with
the problem at source, which is trying to bring stability to the region around Syria and in Syria itself and that will stop the migration problem.
He's refusing to take more immigrants at this point.
CURNOW: Yes, I mean, I think if you read the British newspapers -- of course you are -- that many criticizing, think David Cameron is on the
wrong side of history here.
Who, though -- and I think the main argument is coming from local boroughs, local councils, saying who will pay for refugees or migrants if
they do come in?
This is a debate that goes really to the heart of Britain, doesn't it?
FOSTER: Yes. And he made a position very recently, when he went for election and he won election, saying he wouldn't allow a lot more
immigration. But what the human rights groups are saying very clearly is this is a case of humanity. These are people who are desperate. They're
fleeing. They cannot go back. So we should make an exception for them. But he's not moving on that.
Members of Parliament return next week after their summer breaks. And I think the pressure's going to mount him. There's going to be more
parliamentary debates. He's going to have to find some sort of solution. And the complicating factor here as well is he's currently going around to
European leaders, trying to renegotiate Britain's position within the European Union.
And then we have Angela Merkel saying that actually all European countries should be accepting their fair share of asylum seekers; perhaps
she's going to find his efforts less attractive if he doesn't accept what she's saying, which is we need to believe in these ideals and accept asylum
seekers when they are genuine.
CURNOW: Max Foster in London, thanks so much for that.
Well, that does it for us here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Thanks for watching. I'm Robyn Curnow.
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