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Hala Gorani Tonight
Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding in Europe. Aired 3-4p ET.
Aired September 03, 2015 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:09] HALA GORANI, HOST: Hello everyone and welcome to our special coverage on humanitarian crisis unfolding in Europe this is The World Right
Now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: This hour hundreds of people boarded trains in Budapest today not knowing where they would end up. Tonight we will take you to this hot
overcrowded train car.
And this little boy is commanding the world's attention. But were learning about the three year old Aylan Kurdi who died trying to reach a better life
with his family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Hello everyone I'm Hala Gorani, we're live in Berlin and this is The World Right Now.
And we start this hour once again in Hungary. It has been another day of chaos, as hundreds of migrant's finally boarded trains at Budapest's main
railway station. The problem is there destination is unknown.
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GORANI: But 35 km outside of Budapest trains came to and abrupt halt with a few migrants throwing themselves onto the tracks and scuffling with
police who were attempting to take them to a reception center. The rest are still on the train and are refusing to get off, they do not want to go
to those refugee camps.
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GORANI: CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon has been following this flow of migrants beginning in Turkey through Serbia now on
to Hungary and she is in the middle of the action as those trains were stopped outside of Budapest this is her reporting.
[15:01:51]ARWA DAMON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Everyone flooded into the stations flooded onto one of the trains there logic was that if
they were allowing them into the station then the road to Germany, where they're all hoping to get must somehow be open.
This train is packed with people who don't really know exactly where it is that they're going. Some of them have heard that there are no
international trains departing from this station but they're still packed into these various different cars.
There's a very heartbreaking scene unfolding around us right now as this train has stopped at the station because there's commotion outside with the
police. People don't know if they're going to be forcibly removed from the train and this is a family that we have just been speaking to who said that
they escaped death in Syria only to find it here. And they're so worried about the children.
We know that there is a refugee camp located maybe out 30km outside of Budapest, that is why everybody is refusing to get off this train.
Now on either side of this car that we're in there are groups of men and youth who are holding onto the door handles because they're afraid that the
police are going to try to come on board.
Even just being here for a few hours I mean this is very, very difficult and especially hard for the mothers who are struggling when it comes to
holding it together. They're exhausted, they are emotionally drained, their nerves are frayed, the kids will not stop crying. They're doing
whatever it is they can to care for them but it's so difficult.
We have all been on this train for about four hours if not longer and people right now are just trying to do what it is that they can to try to
pass the time. There's two little girls that are sleeping on the floor right here and it's very crowded obviously, it's very hot in here. The
kids are all thirsty, they're hungry, they haven't had food.
The police force outside is standing guard and just a short while ago came through and in Arabic announced to everybody, asked them to get off the
train, get on busses and go and report to the refugee camp to get registered and processed. The problem is nobody here is going to do that.
They don't trust the Hungarians, they don't believe that if they get into the camp they'll ever be let out and a lot of them are traumatized by what
they already went through at one of Hungary's camps located on its border with Serbia where they said conditions were absolutely inhumane and they
were treated like animals.
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GORANI: All right, I understand we can actually go live to that train. Arwa Damon is aboard that train with all these refugees who were hoping to
make it to Germany today. What is the situation now Arwa?
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DAMON: Well Hala (inaudible) has fallen, some of the children are really crammed into space to be on the train. Again a bit of commotion because
people have seen a second train with refugees on that but those refugees are being removed from that train and taken.
[15:05:03]There were also leaflets which were distributed, written on them in Arabic urging, as we heard on the loud speakers earlier, people to get
off the train, get on busses and go to what is being called an open camp. Reassured that they would be receiving food, water and medical assistance
there.
But again as you have been hearing and seeing in that report nobody is moving because they don't believe the Hungarian authorities. They don't
trust them at all and all of them say they would rather (Inaudible - technical difficulties).
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GORANI: All right, we lost Arwa there she was reporting live from that train saying essentially people on board who were - are being told and have
been told today to leave the train, to trust authorities, to go to these relocation centers, are not trusting authorities.
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GORANI: They're saying they don't want to be hoarded and kept inside of refugee camps. You saw what's happening on the ground from Arwa's
reporting but Hungary's prime minister says this country should not be criticized for the way it's handling this situation.
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GORANI: He was speaking at a meeting in Brussels earlier and did not hold back. He laid the blame for the crisis squarely on Germany, listen.
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VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER: The problem is not a European problem. The problem is a German problem. No-body would like to stay in
Hungary. 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, nor Estonia. All of them would like to go to Germany.
Our job is only to register them. So if the German Chancellor insist on that nobody can leave Hungary without registration toward Germany, we will
register them, it's a must.
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GORANI: All right, the Hungarian Prime Minister there, Viktor Orban. We can go live once again to Hungary, our senior international correspondent,
Fred Pleitgen is there. Fred, I understand from my producer that people are taken off the train, is that correct? Tell us what you're seeing right
now.
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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, there's a second train that's come here into the train station. We're going to pan
over here right now because there's a group of migrants that's in there that's refusing to get off of that train. There's security forces,
Hungarian security forces that have been going around that train trying to get these people to go off. There's been some commotion as the police here
have gone through there. Maybe you can hear the screaming behind me and some of the possible refugee's there waving their hands refusing to get off
that train.
This is a second train, this is not the one that Arwa's in, this is one on the other side of the platform and basically what the Hungarian security
forces have been trying to do is they've been checking these trains that have been coming through if there was migrants on them they've been trying
to get them off and then taking them to some of the camps that are here in the area. And right now what's going on is that there's a second train now
that is stationary here in the station with people refusing to get off. And you can hear the people screaming as those refugees there in that first
carriage of that train are refusing to get off that train even though the police have been in there, and we'll wait and see what their next moves are
going to be.
There were several police officers in there for a while talking to them, trying to sort of persuade them to get off, pushing them off just a little
bit as well. And now it seems as though there's a second standoff going on here with another commuter train here in this - in this railway station.
You can also see here in the foreground, you can see the riot police that's sort of assembling in front of that train. Possibly trying to keep the
media away, possibly also trying to secure this side of the train just in case someone maybe tries to jump off. But at this point in time it seems
that the standoff here is increasing and people are simply refusing to get off the train.
There's another door opening inside the train but once again you can see the refugees sort of waving to each other. They're waving from this train
that you see here in the foreground to the one that's been stationary here for several hours, to the one that Arwa's on. So certainly the situation
here has just escalated even more than it - than it has before.
There's a lot of riot police here in the area, there's a lot of riot police gathered here on this railway station and they have been for a very long
time trying to do exactly this. As you can see those folks there sort of just sitting there refusing to get off that train.
There was, I would say a group of about maybe 20 migrants, 20 would be refugees, asylum seekers, as now you can see there's a worker from the
Hungarian Rail Road that's going on the train and they're sort of talking to these people and trying to get them to go off. But what's been going on
is that you had that train that was stationary, the one that Arwa's on, and that the many refugees are on, and you've had trains that have gone
through. Now you can see as the train's moving there they are waving to them, it looks like they didn't get them to go off the train yet.
[15:10:01] It went backwards, it actually came from the (inaudible), it's going back to where it came from before. And there you can see it again
now the train that Arwa's on. See how many of the - of the refugees came off that train and just sort of screamed to the refugees who were on the
second train, telling them not to get off, telling them not to go to the camp. Because the people who get escorted off these trains that stop here
they immediately get taken to a temporary shelter for processing and that's something that many of them obviously don't want to do, Hala.
GORANI: Well it sounds like a dramatic situation there, about 35km outside of Budapest. Migrants, refugees, asylum seekers crowded onto trains
refusing to get off, not wanting to go to some of these refugee relocation camps.
Fred Pleitgen, Arwa Damon, we'll stay in close touch with them for the very latest on what's going on there outside Budapest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Let's go to the Hungarian government spokesperson, Zoltan Kovacs, he joins me now live from Budapest.
Mr. Kovacs, will authorities use force to extract these refugees from the trains if they - if they refuse to get off the trains? What is the - what
is the strategy here going forward?
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ZOLTAN KOVACS, HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON: As you've seen the past couple of days unfolding there's patience and cooperation on behalf of
Hungarian police that's why I have to reject your very strong language coming from one of your reporters about the treatment of these people.
There's a complete lack of compliance cooperation on their behalf. For the past almost week we've seen that these people don't want to work together
with police with those Hungarian authorities that are trying to help them. And again I don't know what the expectation is, I don't know what they have
in mind, they can't go freely to Germany at their choice. They have to comply with the European regulations and that exactly actually is going to
wait them in Austria and in Germany. They're going to get temporary shelters but the same kind of provisions are going to be provided to them
as in Hungary again under European law.
So this is a very strange situation. Largely resulting from the lack of compliance (inaudible) again Hungarian and European law.
GORANI: Well - but - here's - could you clear something up for me? These refugees when you say you don't know what they have in mind, they clearly
have in mind to leave Hungary. They don't want to stay in Hungary, they want to go Austria and Germany. Germany has also been quite clear saying
we're ready to welcome some of these refugees and asylum seekers. Why not simply allow these trains to carry on their journey and you know they're
bound for Germany just allow them to leave Hungary and go to Germany? In Munich you have organizations waiting for these refugees.
KOVACS: Well you see this is exactly the double language we would like to sort out with the German politicians, public opinion makers and officials.
It is unsustainable that messages from Germany keep on coming that everybody is welcome while at the same time authorities including
politicians actually, and just take a look at the German embassy's homepage in Hungary are clearly stating that all countries, including Hungary,
should comply with the European rules. That is we have to register these people.
This is an impossible situation. After the announcement made by Angela Merkel which obviously was, or claimed to be misinterpreted, but as you
mentioned there are claims that Germany is (inaudible) everyone in Syria, welcoming all illegal migrants keep - just try to imagine the situation of
these people desperate to go to journey without the possibility to do so. It is not us who are telling them that they can't go, it is the European
regulations.
So again, it is a German problem as you mentioned in the - in your report actually because they have to decide within themselves which line to take.
We are basically trying to cope with the situation that was (inaudible) in many respects by irresponsible German announcements.
GORANI: You're saying - you're calling the German announcements irresponsible. So you're really blaming Germany for on the one hand saying
all refugees are welcome and on the other hand being irresponsible. But in what way would you say they're being irresponsible this evening?
KOVACS: Exactly by this double language. It is impossible to comply with all the European rules and at the same time being criticized not letting
people through the country, this is impossible.
If you want to handle this situation and I think the Prime Minister was very outspoken today at the negotiations with the hands of the European
institutions, it is impossible even to raise the proper question how we are going to start handling the situation if you don't make the first step.
And the first step is again as I told you a couple of times for the past couple of days, restoring law and order at the borders. This simply should
be put into the (inaudible) illegal migrants otherwise we won't be able, neither in Hungary or any other European country, to handle the situation.
[15:15:08] GORANI: Zoltan Kovacs is the Hungarian government's spokesperson. Thanks for joining us this evening. We continue our special
coverage.
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GORANI: A refugee father loses his wife and two sons while trying to reach Europe.
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GORANI: How a single gut wrenching picture of the little boy on the left maybe a wakeup call for the world. We'll be right back, stay with us.
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GORANI: Well the story of this migrant and refugee crisis now has a face and name that is becoming more and more difficult to ignore or brush aside.
We first saw it on Wednesday. And the impact has been profound. If you haven't seen it, we caution you it's disturbing. We're about to show it to
you once again and tell you what we've learned about the young boy in the photo, one that may change some attitudes towards this tragedy.
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GORANI: We now know his name, Aylan Kurdi, three years old. The picture of him face down on a Turkish beach shared millions of times around the
world on social media.
On the front pages of 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 policeman. 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 three year old and his five year old brother,
Galip, 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.
FIN DONNELLY, CANADIAN PARLIAMENT MINISTER: I delivered the letter to the Minister and nothing. We waited and waited and you know we didn't have any
action.
GORANI: In June, the family was told their request was rejected.
DONNELLY: 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: 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.
[15:20:10] 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.
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GORANI: Well Aylan's father spoke to the media a short time ago. He described in vivid detail exactly what happened the night he lost his
family trying to make that crossing to Europe, listen.
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ABDULLAH KURDI, FATHER OF DROWNED SYRIAN BOY: (As translated) I remember that we were in an alleyway then about an hour later I was taken to the
docks. A Turkish man boarded us. With 12 people the boat was heavy; with the chauffeur we were 13, then we pushed off and we were in the water for
just four to five minutes. Then the chauffeur saw the waves were very high, he left us, jumped in the water and fled.
I tried to steer the boat, I kept adjusting but another wave came and capsized the boat. I tried to grab my wife and children. Is there someone
whose children are not valuable to them? The children enrapture you. They wake you up in the morning, daddy I want to play in the water. Is there
anything in the world better than this? Everything has gone. I plan to sit by the grave of my wife and children, and that is it.
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GORANI: And there you heard from the father, he says he just plans on sitting by the grave of his family and waiting to die.
Now as we mentioned earlier this picture has had a very deep impact on people around the world. We know how it's impacted ordinary people. All
you have to do really is check twitter and Facebook and how many times the photo of the little boy was shared. But what about politicians those in
charge who have the power to change policy.
The British Prime Minister for instance, David Cameron, well he's not budging on the crisis despite the outrage over the image of that drowned
Syrian boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Lawmakers and the public are pushing him to accept more migrants from the Middle East and Parliament is even circulating this online
petition.
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GORANI: Mr. Cameron says the solution is to bring peace and stability to Syria and the Middle East however not take in more refugees. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Anyone who saw those pictures overnight couldn't help but be moved and as a father I feel deeply moved by
the sight of that young boy on a beach in Turkey. And Britain is a moral nation and we will fulfill our moral responsibilities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well critics including members of his own party in this case say the Prime Minister's response is callous. More than 240,000 have signed
that online petition so far.
A lot more ahead in our special coverage of The world Right Now.
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GORANI: We are live in Berlin everyone. Beginning life again, they have made it to Germany but even then the children of the migrant crisis face
brand new challenges.
We'll be right back.
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GORANI: Welcome back everyone, we're live in Berlin. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, says that her nation may get an influx of up to
800,000 asylum seekers this year alone.
But once refugees arrive in Germany their struggles are far from over. They need places to live, they need jobs, their children need to go to
school. They have to learn German which is no easy task. Here's Atika Shubert with that.
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[15:25:12] ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At (inaudible) school in Brandenburg Ms. Albrecht is making a game of learning German and
her students are eager to put words into practice.
(ROJAN): My name is (Rojan) I'm from Iran.
SHUBERT: Just two of the dozens of young refugees going to school here this is a welcome class for learning German designed to get kids of all
ages speaking quickly as possible.
(Inaudible) 16 kids, one teacher and two assistants, a lot of staff to make sure each child gets the support they need.
YVONNE ALBRECHT, TEACHER: I learned that they are very, very friendly, that they are very open minded, they are very fast learners, lots of them,
especially from Syria. They're happy here in Germany and that makes me happy as well.
SHUBERT: Nearly 40% of the kids here are from refugee or migrant families. Students come from Syria and Iran, but also Albania, Afghanistan, Somalia,
and Chechnya. Some have been here for years, others only a few weeks.
ALBRECHT: (As translated) I have learned so much from them says this teacher and they learn from each other. They talk all the time about the
different ways they get to school, how they live and what kind of food they eat. Personally I am grateful for it she says.
SHUBERT: Teachers are sensitive to the difficulties of adjusting to a new country so there are home visits to refugee shelters and field trips to get
kids comfortable with their new neighborhood. The goal is a class like this.
Confident students speaking fluent German and yet there is nothing special about the school insists Principle Goldberg.
(GOLDBERG) (As translated) We simply want students to feel as comfortable as quickly as possible she says, we want this to feel like home and for
them to forget the wars and conflict they have left behind.
SHUBERT: For some of these children it's not home yet but it is a fresh start and most of all a chance at a normal life.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Brandenburg, Germany.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right, we're having a few technical issues here in Berlin. We're going to take a quick break when we come back I'll be speaking with
the Serbian Prime Minister and a lot more of our special coverage ahead. Stay with us, we'll be with you in a moment.
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[15:30:14] GORANI: Welcome back to a special edition of The World Right Now live from Berlin. We have extensive coverage of the migrant and
refugee crisis facing Europe.
Let's take a quick look at some of the other stories CNN is following.
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GORANI: French prosecutors are confirming a wing part found on an Indian Ocean Island is indeed from missing Malaysian airlines flight 370.
The Flaperon is the first physical trace found of MH370 since it went missing in March last year with 239 people on board.
Also among the top stories a massive military parade in Beijing as China marks 70 years since the end of World War II.
About 12,000 troops marked through Tiananmen Square alongside tanks, missiles and other military hardware.
Fed up French farmers are staging a tractor protest in Paris. They say falling food prices are threatening their livelihoods and they're demanding
more help from the government. The protest has caused traffic delays throughout the French capital.
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GORANI: All right, back to our top story now and we want to go to Serbia which as you can see from this map is right in the path of the flow of
people into Europe.
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GORANI: The Serbian government recently said 7,000 people crossed into the country on a single night. Let's speak to Serbia's Prime Minister,
Aleksandar Vucic, who is in Belgrade.
Prime Minister, thanks for being with us. You have said that you will accept some refugees into Serbia.
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GORANI: What is your plan?
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GORANI: Prime Minister, can you hear me? This is Hala Gorani in Berlin.
ALEXSANDAR VUCIC, SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER: (Inaudible).
GORANI: All right, we lost our connection there with the Serbian Prime Minister, we will work hard to get it back. But we are going to continue
our coverage with this.
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GORANI: Humanity is drowning in the Mediterranean are the words of Turkey's President on the migrant crisis. He was hitting out at European
countries for how they've handled the situation. Turkey itself hosts close to 2 million refugees from Syria. And many of them like these people
filmed back in June, are trying to escape fighting between ISIS and Kurdish forces.
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GORANI: Becky Anderson has just been speaking to the Turkish President and she began by asking him about the shocking image of Aylan Kurdi,
photographed on a beach in his country.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You will have seen this image of a young Syrian boy on a beach near Bodrum on the Turkish coast.
When you saw this picture what was your reaction?
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT: (As translated) When I saw that picture well it was in a family setting unfortunately and my children, my
grandchildren, they saw the picture at the same time as me. When we saw it we were devastated. And we asked the question to ourselves where is
humanity?
Where is the conscious of humanity? It's a three year old child. And it's not the first time this is happening. Many children, mothers, fathers
unfortunately have been drowned in the rough waters of the Mediterranean.
Only our Coastguards since the beginning of this year have saved more than 50,000 people. This is the kind of times we're going through but this
picture of course was what made us cry.
ANDERSON: Who's to blame?
ERDOGAN: To be honest, the whole Western world is to be blamed in my opinion.
ANDERSON: You have accused Europe of turning the Mediterranean into a cemetery. Did you mean that?
ERDOGAN: Well yes I meant that when I said that wholeheartedly because that's the reality on the ground. (inaudible) because the country's
bordering around the Mediterranean they do not want these people no matter what the cost but that's not our outlook on the matter, that's not how we
see it. If they are at our borders, if they want to come in, we do welcome them in as guests, and then if there are those who need to descend back to
their countries that's what we do.
[15:35:05] But otherwise if we have the means to house and welcome them in our country, that's what we do. And that's the reason why the number of
people from Syria and Iraq in Turkey is in excess of 2 million as we speak.
For instance Greece, Italy, Spain and other countries including France, Hungary, well they could easily do the same thing but unfortunately it
hasn't been done so far. The same goes for Germany. I mean consider the fact that the Minister from Germany was saying that Turkey should accept
these people in and then amongst these people we'll pick some of those and we'll accept those people and other European countries was saying the same
thing. What kind of an approach is that?
It is not possible to understand that. I mean just like I'm in an office of responsibility, these people are also in offices of responsibilities so
what they need to do is to conduct a joint operation and you know give these people an opportunity to save themselves. And this picture you're
referring, we do not want to see similar cases.
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GORANI: There you have it the Turkish President. Well let's return to Belgrade in Serbia, I understand the Serbian Prime Minister is able to join
me now.
Mr. Vucic, Aleksandar Vucic, can you hear me?
VUCIC: I think that I can hear you right now, and thank you for having me tonight.
GORANI: All right - all right, well thank you for being with us. Let me first ask you about Serbia. Now we know many of these refugees cross
through your country. We were - there were reports that you had record numbers, 7,000 in one night alone.
Now Serbia says it will take in some refugees. What is your plan, what kind of numbers are you considering here?
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VUCIC: I can say some figures, some important numbers (to your audience), since (May to July) when we (inaudible) when we established the (inaudible)
in our country, since that we got more than 45,000 refugees. 62% out of those people are from Syria, almost 19% from Afghanistan, 7% from Iraq.
And all the others from Somalia, Libya and other African countries.
And our plan was to show our responsible and (inaudible) approach which means a very human approach to those people, we needed to show our empathy,
our solidarity, our tolerance and I think that Serbia was the best example of that.
And there is another very important piece here regarding our plans because the situation is getting worse and worse particularly with the recent event
and recent state as you heard from Brussels, from the press conference with the Hungarian Prime Minister, which means that (inaudible) real
humanitarian disaster but we'll do our best to treat those migrants, to treat those refugees in a very fair way and we'll carry on with the same
actions. We'll provide medical screenings, medical treatment for those people. We'll organize overnight stay or they'll need to stay for several
days in our country particularly in winter time.
And I have to say that we are maybe the only country that does not blame anybody else in the world. We're just claiming for a kind of comprehensive
solution from European Union and we are ready to be a part of that solution which means that we will.
GORANI: Prime Minister, can I ask - sorry to jump in, I just want to ask you about Hungary specifically about Hungary. What do you make of its
approach to the refugees?
I understand Hungary wants to deploy the military at its border with your country, Serbia, where it's building that razor wire fence. What do you
think of that move from Hungary at the border there? Militarizing the border between your two countries.
VUCIC: You know, yes, you know we have a very good relationship with our Hungarian neighbors and I'm not going to spoil that relationship because of
anything that has already happened or that might happen in the future.
But what we wanted to - what we wanted to stay to you that of course we cannot be very pleased with that fence or that wall, we cannot be very
pleased with the barbed wire and I can tell you something what I heard from those refugees today because I visited those people together with the
Bulgarian Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs. And those people were saying to me that yes you know we need more blankets and I started to yell at my
people because I thought that those refugees didn't have enough blankets to cover themselves during the night you know but they were using those
blankets to cover those - that barbed wire you know to cross the border with Hungary and that's something that you cannot imagine in front of your
country. And that is something that we need to fight against and that is why I'm insisting on that very comprehensive solution that we need to get
from European Union. And even as all we (inaudible) we are ready to take our part of the burden and we need to share that responsibility and we are
ready to deliver on that.
[15:40:43] And I need to say one more word on that because it is very important to be heard. You know Europeans have always taken everything
from European funds, but there are times when you need to do something for Europe, when you need to show your European face and this is the right time
for that. And I think that we need to deliver more solidarity, more tolerance, more goodwill and more human approach which we lacked in the
past.
GORANI: Mr. Vucic, thank you so much, we - I'm sorry to jump in. We understood - we really appreciate your time, the Serbian Prime Minister,
Aleksandar Vucic there with his reaction to this crisis unfolding right in the Balkans and across Europe. Thank you very much.
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GORANI: From Serbia to Greece, a key landing point for most migrants these pictures from Sunday give you some idea of the scale of people arriving in
Greece.
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GORANI: Let's speak to the man at the center of this issue. Georgios Hatzimarkos, he's the Governor of the South Aegean Region, and he joins me
now from Athens.
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GORANI: We've been concentrating a lot on Hungary, the Balkans, and Germany, but these refugees keep coming in. What kind of numbers are we
talking about over the last several days that we've been focused on Hungary? The numbers of migrants that have reached Greek shores?
GEORGIOS HATZIMARKOS, GOVERNOR OF SOUTH AEGEAN REGION: Good evening from Athens Ms. Gorani. We're talking about something like 25,000 people now on
the island actually.
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HATZIMARKOS: And we're trying to transfer these people to the capital in Athens.
GORANI: So when you see what's going on in the Balkans, when you see the response from Hungary, when you see for instance that picture as well of
that little boy who died in Turkey trying to make it to Greece. How do you think the response of this continent should improve in order to try to
address this major tragedy?
HATZIMARKOS: Well first of all I would like to tell you that I am very proud of all our people living in the islands because they do for all their
efforts, and everything they do, against all the obstacles they have because of the economic crisis.
Our last year prediction that the crisis will be transferred in Europe, unfortunately it seems that it prove us right and now the problem is at the
back (inaudible) Europe. Europe has to react yesterday and I think the time is now and I'm very confident that from the day tomorrow we'll see
Europe taking action.
We're expecting exactly tomorrow at the island of Kos, we're expecting the First Vice President of the European Committee, Mr. Frans Timmerman.
Along with the European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, Mr. Avramopoulos, and we'll have announcements tomorrow in less than 12 - in
less than 12 hours from now.
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GORANI: Less than 12 hours from now announcements, important announcements. Can you give us an idea of what we will hear tomorrow?
HATZIMARKOS: Well the first is the big European funding is going to be unlocked.
Greece cannot stand all this problem on its own. I was telling you that we're very proud of these people at the islands who really protect the
European borders very well but we need the European Union.
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HATZIMARKOS: We need to collaborate with the European Union, we need to work with them and join our experience. We need European funding and
European funding is going to be announced tomorrow.
Now, we're very true ..
GORANI: OK, so we'll hear more about funding to help.
HATZIMARKOS: .don't even.
GORANI: Yes.
HATZIMARKOS: Funding is not the only issue of course. Personnel, experience, personnel and experience is also very welcome in terms of
handling this very extreme situation.
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[15:45:08] GORANI: OK. Georgios Hatzimarkos, the Governor of the South Aegean Region. We're hearing a lot about these Greek islands, Kos, Lesvos,
others who have had to deal with the influx some of them ill-prepared it has to be said. And we're going to hear some major announcements tomorrow.
Thank you very much sir for joining us. This is The World Right Now.
A woman overwhelmed by grief and guilt after members of her Syrian family drown in the Mediterranean while trying to get to Europe.
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TIMA KURDI, AUNT OF DROWNED SYRIANS: I told him I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have sent you the money to go. If I didn't send you the money you won't
go. And he said don't blame yourself, I know you did to help us a lot.
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GORANI: Tima Kurdi's two nephews and their mother died this week just before they reached safety in Turkey. We'll be right back.
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GORANI: The image of the two year old Aylan Kurdi is no doubt moving Britain's' to sign a petition. Aylan and his family were desperate to get
out of their war torn homeland of Syria.
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GORANI: Aylan's aunt, Tima Kurdi, its' nickname in fact, her name is Fatima Kurdi, had sent her brother money to help with this journey that
ended so badly.
So she was overwhelmed with grief when she spoke to the media today.
KURDI: He said I did my own, my power to save them, I couldn't. Nobody else could save them. Everyone in the boat they tried to save their life.
I told him I'm sorry I shouldn't have sent you the money to go. If I didn't send you the money you wouldn't go. And he said don't blame
yourself, I know you did to help us a lot.
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GORANI: Aylan's life started far from that Turkish beach in Kobani in Northern Syria. He'd known only war. Our Nick Paton Walsh picks up this
story where it started. And a warning many of the images in this piece are disturbing.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Syria's trauma rarely is this visible. Aylan Kurdi, so innocent in death you can almost
feel his face in the sand.
Smugglers and unfulfilled hope put him there but his family was at first fleeing another morbidly visible part of Syria's spiral into the void.
Kobani.
[15:50:04] To some here in sprawling camps their onward trips to Greece or Canada would have been a lucky and expensive choice to leave behind forever
the abyss of their homeland.
When does it end? Even overlooking Kobani when the world was able to watch the warped brutality of ISIS launch car bombs on the borders of NATO, the
coalition smart bombs came but they did not bring the war to a close.
In fact each time Syrian's crisis deepens its horror bursts uninterrupted onto our screens and the world asks when will it end? The task seems all
the more impossible.
ISIS fighting moderate rebels, fighting Al Qaeda, fighting the Kurds, all of whom have or want their own fiefdoms and that's just the North.
The regime on the back foot but still using barrel bombs against civilians a brutality that fuels the unrest and kills more than anyone else.
A full two years have now passed since Barack Obama's only red line on Syria, the use of chemical weapons was crossed. The suffocated (inaudible)
broke through the fatigue over Syria. The use of Sarin given the White House's threat seemingly Bashir al-Asaad goading the world to stop him.
Apparently calling the right bluff.
He already tested Washington's will to intervene again after Iraq in the Middle East. Huge scared surface to surface missiles against the rebel
areas of Aleppo turn them into the surface of the moon.
Children routinely hit by shelling that seemed almost designed to be random to terrify hospitals in the cross hairs. (Inaudible) enough to spur
unified action back when Syria was a far, far less complex mess.
And perhaps now even this image still not enough when Syria has never seemed less fixable.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut.
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SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: (Jennifer Kempton) is healing herself and helping others at the same time.
A survivor of sex slavery who was branded by her trafficker she now runs Survivors Inc., a small non-profit that pays for victims to have their
tattoos covered up. Today is (Angela Ritter's) turn. The branding on her upper arm is a constant reminder of her days on the streets.
(ANGELA RITTER): I felt like I would never completely own my own body again, and after today I will.
Not everybody gets a chance to be a survivor and there are girls out there right now that don't even know that they're victims. Maybe, just maybe,
they'll see one of us and they'll know that there is help, there is hope, and there is a way out.
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GORANI: As we've been reporting many of the migrants and refugees now right on Europe's doorstep say they are trying to get to Germany. But
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said other countries must share the burden.
Right now I'm joined by a member of the German parliament, Ozcan Mutlu. He's a member of the Green Party and he joins me now live in Berlin.
You're of Turkish origin, you were in fact born in Turkey, you became a German Citizen and then were elected to the German parliament, so you have
an interesting perspective. You see it I think from two angles right? This problem, this crisis?
OZCAN MUTLU, GERMAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: I even have been on the Greek islands just a few weeks ago and I have seen the tragedies over there. And
after seeing this picture, especially the picture of this young toddler at Bodrum, I don't understand why European leaders are still talking. They
have to act.
It's not about who is taking more burden, which country is richer and which is poorer. We have to act and immediately.
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MUTLU: It's not a refugee crisis we are facing these days, it's a European crisis and it's a humanitarian catastrophe. Therefore every European
country, not only the ones in the south have to take up responsibility, open the doors, and maybe we have to talk about legal pathways to come to
Europe. Not (inaudible).
GORANI: I get that you're making that call but I mean really when you look at the situation as it is in reality, even from the British Prime Minister
today saying the solution is to fix the problem at the source, not to give more - not to take in more refugees.
You saw Hungary for instance and how it's saying we're not allowing these refugees into Europe. So absence that cooperation which doesn't seem to be
forthcoming, what is the solution?
[15:55:10] MUTLU: Look at Turkey, look at Jordan, they have taken much more refugees than all Europe together, approximately 4 million people are
now in the camps in Turkey and in Jordan. Therefore the 100,000 to 200,000 or 500,000 Europe is taking these days, this is nothing compared to that -
to those numbers. That's why we say we have to act, we have to put more money into the issue. We have to make for the registration, we have to
hire more personnel, we have to fasten the ways and open the way to Europe.
By closing it, by having walls doesn't help.
GORANI: Well but, but no, but Europeans - I'm sure you read the press in the UK, you read the press in other countries, that aren't offering as many
resettlement spots are saying we cannot just welcome anybody, house them, feed them, give them jobs, we have our own problems.
MUTLU: Yes we have a lot of problems definitely but compared to the problems people have fleeing from war and other problems, this is nothing.
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MUTLU: And we have to keep in mind we had a second world war here especially in Europe, in Germany, and many, many other countries helped us.
Now it's time to give something back. And this is not only the responsibility of Germany, definitely not. The share has to be - the
burden has to be shared. This is about - we have no much time.
We have to take up responsibility, come together, all the leaders and Britain is in charge, Germany is in charge, just looking at Hungary and
Greece doesn't help at all.
GORANI: Ozcan Mutlu, I just was looking down there to make sure I got your Green Party affiliation correct, a member of the German Parliament, you
were of course also on those Greek Islands, you said you saw firsthand the tragedy and we've been covering it on CNN, and we've gotten a lot of
response.
Thanks so much for joining us we really appreciate your being on the program tonight.
I'm Hala Gorani, Quest Means business is coming up next, stay with us.
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