This ahead of zone. A vast expanse and home to people with centuries old traditions. I doubt hes. Done in. The last hour the headline of the to counterattack up the last of these days this the hell region has also become known for radical islamists gaining political influence and for young people on the move in search of Better Futures elsewhere we travel to mali any share for this film. This is timbuktu in mali where the streets are once again filled. With color and song. Celebrations music laughter and dancing have returned to this fabled and mysterious desert city. Back in 2012 things looked very different. In the summer of 2012 armed radical islamists seized control of cities in northern mali including timbuktu. In 2013 a fragile peace was restored to the city on the transparent caravan route and the un has stationed blue helmet soldiers in mali since then. But fear insecurity economic problems and unemployment remain there are few prospects especially for younger mali. Over 5 years have passed since the occupation but timbuktu is still struggling to regain its identity. Was born here 31 years ago he has spent almost his whole life here and knows nearly every building the only time he left timbuktu was during the occupation when he fled to the capital bamako ali used to work as a tour guide showing americans and europeans his hometown. He agreed to also lead us through the cultural oasis timbuktu. Attractors timbuktu is a living together. People are next and then like. How the kids are into look it is different in Different Countries and different areas because each other you can share everything together you can share food together you can share life to go to many things us you can share. And used to be. But to hear and see life is to be so different. Thats why i loved him and like nicks country is kind of People Living here. Older brother was also a tour guide and when ali was only 13 he started accompanying his brother while he worked thats how he learned english and Everything Else he needed for the job but ever since radical islamists attack the city foreigners have stayed away. Many craftsmen have shops here in tampa to. Used to stop by them regularly with tourists. In for more than 5 years now life sold practically nothing and there are no more tourists and only locals occasionally buy something. Tourism was once an important industry for timbuktu especially for young people like ali. It provided an opportunity for them to make a living here on the edge of the desert. People always bright even now you see people upright upright footloose to come but. Even that the 2 has come to morrow i think for the pleasure to look to are going to be very happy to head us news to see tourists out on the city in the area because usually to move to the big song and its promise country from this village before. They were in the world and they want to see tuesday are so happy even you guys dont hear people hoping to see you because been a long time to go see white people. That used to be very different there was the famous annual festival oldies there in mali for instance which was held twice on the outskirts of town but 2 tourists from all over the world came to see it. Do it. Lets do it. Well they did it. The business of it would stop them. Going to that thank the festival became part of shared memory and helped forge timbuktus image as a place where trois reg music could be heard in a breathtaking desert scene. Since the 2012 invasion however the festival has had to either be canceled or staged outside of tempted. But although the security situation in the city continues to deter tourists music on a smaller scale has returned performed by those pushing against the sorrow and the late. In threat of islam its. Among them the banned book to jazz they develop their jazz from the traditional music of timbuktu and sing in 3 of the regions languages. Music is everything to me. Ive been playing since i was a small child were going to. Run for office chris from what i mean its through music that i met so many different people that i got to play and collaborate with. So its a big deal for me. When theres loads where we were not allowed to play but they infiltrated us some we had to pack our guitars and equipment away. There was no music. There for. Now musicians from elsewhere are slowly starting to return to 10 back to to give concerts. Little bit of a more intimate to we think of music as knowledge and tastes as messengers were here to spread the message of music to people in this entire region. Is a good there is a conflict but the message with spreading without singing is for peace for social cohesion and for progress. Isnt a good look. When singer id isnt making music he repairs motorcycles. He can only dream of making a living from his music in timbuktu. But. Since the jihad has ceded power the. Local economy has been stagnating real jobs remain scarce but i think continues to dream of a better tomorrow. Yes but i hope that someday people all over the world will know our music. The effects of the occupation can still be seen in timbuktu. It began in 2011 with the revolution in libya which flooded the sahara region with weapons from gadhafi as arsenals. When in march 2012 a military coup distracted the Central Government in bamako rebels seized the opportunity and declared independence in the north which they called as i won. But the movement was commandeered by the Islamist Group and sardine. And in june 2012 and sardined seized control of timbuktu. Its always peaceful our goal is a religion so. We do not need to conquer anything. He says islam condemns violence blame of jihad used to exterminate and throw out of the country those who oppose the spreading of his life. In the synopsis our goal is not to kill people or shed blood the goal of jihad is to rid the country of those who opposed the sharia and the spreading of islam. With us and that is. Many would not describe this as a peaceful way. For 10 months on sardine try to force the people of timbuktu to abandon their moderate and tolerant practice of islam and to impose their radical version. Women had to wear veils they were public flogging music and dance were forbidden. The girls didnt wear veils before the mujahideen came they said they didnt know that all. Women have to wear veils they orient themselves on the europeans watch their films the western media manipulate them even if you are from the press you know that the media Like Television and radio manipulate their constantly talking about the western world that is why our daughters and women our children want to lead a western lifestyle. The islamists did not only try to change ways of living and dressing they also destroyed tombs of the saints which they condemned as structures of idolatry the attacks on parts of timbuktus historical treasures were attacks on the worlds Cultural Heritage. Is one of timbuktu scholars were he is overjoyed that unesco restored the muzzling. During the restoration process the destruction of timbuktu was being deliberated by the International Criminal court tried you know in the hague in september 26th teen the court reached a historic ruling that for the 1st time equated the destruction of Cultural Heritage with a war crime the islamist leader. Was sentenced to 9 years in prison for intentionally directing attacks against religious and Historic Buildings in timbuktu it destroys part of humanitys shared memory and collective consciousness and renders humanity able to transmit its values and knowledge to future generations. Even timbuktus famous centuries old manuscripts were not safe during the occupation. Has written books about 10 book 2 and the documents served as important sources the manuscripts are unique testimonies to the cultural history of west africa they were written in arabic and local languages between the 13th and early 20th centuries. Mine is. Very thorough the man of some arabs infinitely important for the people of a city that live that very old live in. Order to do so but to have the Largest University south of the sahara in the 15th and 16th centuries is something for a university Minus Committee and the manuscripts to cover almost all subjects to louis ology Traditional Medicine history geography physics chemistry and astronomy the last to me. During the islamist occupation a rescue operation that has since become legendary was started. You. Know large sections of the manuscripts were reportedly hidden and brought to safety in metal boxes by librarians and other helpers. When the islamists 1st came to timbuktu and they werent really interested in a manuscript pray. But later some of the less educated whites is who lived here in the library began to unbutton certain manuscripts key. Prandin lemon is clearly a bit there. A lot of when the local people realized what was happening they did everything they could to save the manuscript. I live in my new screen. It remains unclear how many manuscripts were destroyed or stolen during the islamists. Some estimates say it could have been 4000 before the french and mali in armies were able to drive the islamists out of timbuktu. But thousands of manuscripts were hidden and even smuggled as far as the capital bamako including the collection belonging to the family of abdullah. Who had become known as the savior of the manuscripts. The mamma collection is one of the most extensive and important in timbuktu and is said to contain about 42000 handwritten documents. Only. We packed the manuscripts in metal boxes to keep them safe before smuggling them out. We started transporting them little by little. I rode in a jeeps or in small boats. There are also new river. This would turn out to be just the beginning securing the manuscript has since become a mammoth task. Has converted an entire house in the mali and capital bamako also with financial help from germany. It is here that the manuscripts have been digitized catalogued and archived for several years now in order to secure them once and for all from mali and the world. Some on the screen. We cant live without the manuscripts. Often everything we do has to do with them. But the north of us you know when we talk about education or health when we talk about our intellectuals our history not everything we know about this comes from the manuscripts. There are reports that the scope and course of the manuscript rescue operation may have been exaggerated and embellished perhaps also to help raise funds. Whatever the truth is the smuggling story has revived the myth of timbuktu and the timbuktu manuscripts are undoubtedly an important Cultural Heritage. But the situation in the city is still too insecure to bring the manuscripts back to their home. Were not here and by marco because we want to be here when that we have to be there they want security is restored well go back to timbuktu with a manuscript. And thats what we wish for. That. Got to bear mosque in timbuktu is the largest of its kind in west africa it was built in the 14th century and has been part of unesco World Heritage since 1980. 5 then. Recently became the a mom here like generations before he is his predecessors heir and thus also the temporary owner of the library. For its 8000 manuscripts were hidden during the islamist occupation as well. Now the 26 year old uses the documents to prepare for friday prayers and once again preaches the tolerant and moderate form of his nom for which the desert city always stood until the islamists invaded. You know 3 seconds him in book 2 we know no other islam than a tolerant ones emo at the end it it to be a muslim means to accept each other that is islam as a sense its forbidden to hama nava this is the islam we practice here in timbuktu and in a lot of question this is sense from quotation. They are looking for yes. Oh im glad. Alert. During this friday prayer alphabet essay you spoke about the evil of ego is im. The only. One who knows this is the tone set by his forefathers and a tolerant islam. I want are. The. The tour guide is glad that tolerant islam is once again being practiced in his home city. But oddly feels the old fable trading town on the edge of the sahara through which large salt caravans once past has fallen into oblivion. Many things continue to worry him even though the occupation of timbuktu by the islamists was 5 years ago life remains very difficult especially for younger people. And even to go have a sponsor over like resolutely views are going to face meeting each other theres no it isnt easy to look to their break every 2 years not saying no for the youngest to do to have a farm so it will have fun 2. There is excellent food but the meat skewers in this little street kitchen. But because of the bad roads it takes at least 2 days to reach the capital bamako from timbuktu ringback which reinforces the feeling of seclusion. Fear is still a topic here. Theyre not feel like safe but there are some things here like bar to a nightclub maybe Something Like go with groceries people are afraid to open. And there are still attacks by islamists. In april 28th jihadists managed to detonate car bombs at the airport. The airport building was almost completely destroyed. During the president ial. Election in august 28th the situation was again tense for fear of violence the turnout was low and there was unrest. In addition to mali and french armies the un troops remain in terms of 2 to provide security and peace. To. Lieutenant colonel beachfront a shot from nepal is on patrol today. The u. N. Mission in mali is one of the organizations most dangerous. To have the. Kind of. The city. But. We need protection. Germany also participates in the un mission in mali around 100. 00 soldiers are stationed here which after afghanistan is the 2nd largest of the current 14 Foreign Missions carried out by the german armed forces. The primary objective in mali is to keep the population safe. And even to. Grab the rope with no leeway on it it will definitely go to the security situation that you. Know mother down there now this time they should have this edition somehow so theyve. Done a pretty good help with what i think. The situation has improved a little also economically. The governor of 10 back to province says this is especially important for younger generations. Well you notice it was in the young people and more vulnerable members of society are particularly susceptible to being recruited by islamists or branded these. Movies and that is a danger you think. This is why it is so important to support that we can build their resilience. And then also give them Economic Opportunity that that activity could and. The young people in timbuktu need and seek a perspective. So. Who lives in the middle of the city with one of his 3 brothers. He has managed to build a Small Business venture to earn a little money. Runs a website together with an american through which he sells postcards from his home city which he then sends all over the world. The idea is simple if tourists come to timbuktu then timbuktu can come to them. When you see that theres a message you send it here into anyway maybe you can send maybe you know a state of. You want have a boy scout from unit from to look to you would just put it by the website and from that website you would see your address and they said you want to could be. That you send it its a way to you know state where you are for. For 10. 00 you can receive a postcard handwritten from one of the most legendary places in the world. Ali and his colleagues wont get rich doing this and if something doesnt change soon in time but to then ali doesnt see a future for himself here anymore. Meanwhile he isnt the only young person trying to come up with new ideas for the future. This is our ligi to raise a Young Filmmaker and friend of. The speakers and other equipment were being brought to our library for a screening. Ligi was nervous because it was his film being shown. He made it together with friends. Of the film is an important project for cultural life in timbuktu. This is the 1st time that a film has been shown thats entirely from timbuktu if you. Is an important moment. And its the 1st time that people from timbuktu will go to the cinema. The story about children in turn back to is made up. But the films message is real. In the film we show the culture of timbuktu the. Pastilles the architecture. Everything that concerns our city. We want to create a feeling of for the people who are no longer in the city. We want to arouse the curiosity of those whove never been here. Illegally and his film crew spent 6 months shooting in timbuktu with the simplest of minas. 2 laptops on a homemade table and served as an editing suite a sponge had to suffice for the noise suppression during sound mixing. The film was made with few means but plenty of passion. It indeed was a challenge and weve never done it before but we tried and i guess well know tonight how we did if the audience encourages us well continue. To work with. Everyone was welcome at the film premiere including ali ni ali who wouldnt have missed his friends big day. The screening became a social and cultural event in the desert city. Even the mayor of timbuktu was present. Thank you and the import of this is this if you not dont go to see a dub or this film is so important because it was made by young people from timbuktu you dont go deep no says it is thats a great achievement which we value as you see even when youre with energy shows the life of young people in our city its a satisfying feeling but i must say it and seem to set these folks you know. Legendary timbuktu the desert city on the edge of the sahara still hasnt quite found its way the scars of the islamist occupation and the problems of the last years are still visible. The contrast between timbuktus former glory and the present day creates a certain tension. Still alimi ali feels hopeful especially when he is Drinking Team with his friends on the sand and his thoughts are free to wander. I wish my best to move to one. Wishing to move to peace and living together like you used to know. The mashup song that living together sharing 2 together like you used to know before the 2 irish into 2 i hope youll be ok. Dreams of finding happiness in his hometown he wants to stay here but there are many Young Africans from his age group who want to leave and look for happiness elsewhere but the path there is dangerous for example when they travel through the republic of leisure there. This is the sun harra on the border between asia and algeria. Is a grave digger close to login every day he buries people who did not make it through the desert on a journey north. Since 2016 a law prohibiting migration or flight towards the mediterranean has been in force in the. City since those laws have been a lot of deaths most of them foreigners for them transit via me to our gerri has been banned theres now travel secretly to get lost dial 1st and exhaustion we found the bodies near here in the direction of algeria back that. We cant identify them they all travel without papers receipts we buried them there so that was 3 weeks ago to know all the dead people here are strangers. On the beach just. There are said to be tens of thousands of dead in the desert the exact figure is on 9 europe wants to keep african migrants in africa and to this end the government in asia has been working with the e. U. To secure and close its northern border to libya and algeria. We traveled through the sahara. Its a dangerous journey to make even by car theres a risk of sandstorms 40 degrees celsius and theres no shade nor are there roads we traveled in a military convoy. La june is the last village before the algerian border. Anyone headed for algeria has to pass through here. For years use of earned a living as a middleman connecting migrants looking for a ride with Truck Drivers for a fee at the time this was legal now everything has changed but am i in the World Without a sense the new law i can hardly find any migrants would be i carry luggage back and forth to earn a little money at least. The use of told us that ever since the e. U. Started exerting pressure on asia the business of moving migrants happens almost exclusively at night others also tell us of jeeps that cross the desert border in the cover of darkness the trucks shown here were full of workers from the air since spring 2017 algeria has been extracting huge numbers of migrants who had previously spent years earning a living in algeria back in tunisia. Its a tense situation in algeria 6 or 7 months ago they started to arrest them throw out all the black people they could find where not criminals we just trade but a lot willing when a situation has eased ill return. There were only citizens from the share in the truck convoy headed south it seems those who come from elsewhere from senegal cameroon or ghana must walk there a video shot with mobile phones documenting this according to reports 13000 africans were deposited at the border last year its the to. Of kilometer walk from the border to as america and to a u. N. Refugee tent financed by the Italian Interior Ministry from here the expulsed get loaded onto trucks and deported back to their home countries. The journey through nisha is 1400 kilometers. We followed the convoy. Managed for hit by a sandstorm it took us 3 hours to cover 100 kilometers at dusk we reached the couple of. Media is the 2nd poorest country in the world with a per capita income of just 27. 00 euros 80 per month women give birth to an average of 7 children giving these year the worlds highest birth rate in unemployment is immense and now ninja is supposed to stop migrants who want to go north with the help of 1000000000 euros the e. U. Is to provide an aid through 2020. Interior minister mohammad is proud of the cooperation. That right now there is no state in libya. Meaning malaysia air is in effect currently the border to europe. As have you won the fight against clan to stand migration securely. You cant win this fight for good. But weve had a lot of success much more than you can imagine. Critics like human rights activists must take a different view of the situation and that is that me for some years now as government has been acting as the police force of the European Union in the fight against what the e. U. Calls illegal migration. Will allow this to be she aim is to prevent people from traveling to the north to the areas beyond i got there as well thats the policy of museums government so i set up with. Doctors without borders and hide nikolay in a mobile clinic to care for the people affected by this policy there are tens of thousands of them. Referred to as its migrants have been criminalized here its become increasingly difficult they can no longer move freely have no status and no access to health care that is why we are helping them. The rebel most of them all. Typical symptoms include exhaustion depression and open wounds these men were also being returned to their homelands they were waiting for transport haitian and had already been on the road for a month. She said look it was terrible in algeria they sold us in a border town they were violent some of us were killed. Those beat us until we called home and organized money on. The t. V. And it is a when are you going back i think. I think maybe you already told her she was very very happy because i was going to because i came out so many friends with our lord out in front on the beaches i dont know what ill do in my home country ill be on my own but in rio funs no accommodation itll just be more difficult. The migrants told us is acting like europes belts and affecting even those who were never trying to go to europe. Can cause but for my rhythm what were finding is that migration flows are mainly horizontal in other words between individual west african countries or even within a given country for all the political acts of those headed for europe is the minority are all different from the work in the often over them. Used to have open borders for people from all over west africa. The country belongs to the Economic Community of West African States or eco as a free trade zone in which some states even share a common currency now the e. U. Is deal with severely restricting cross border trade and Free Movement of workers. The consequences of which can be seen clearly in places like the capitals bus station. New book our use of hardly sells any tickets to the north anymore. Theres been a change the migrants who used to come from other countries are no longer here. They are living in hiding. We met a 19 year old senegalese who wanted to go to algeria to work he asked us not to film his face. My older brother was in libya then they sent him back when you return the money situation is where everything is very difficult. Back so i have to go no he said i dont go to libya trial period. When we met the man from senegal he told us he had been hiding in the shack together with the goat for a year because the government has tightened the migration goes the Bus Companies no longer want to transport him so he found a different way we called a truck driver who had agreed to transport the senegalese men hidden between goods to the algerian border. Charging 1000. 00 euros at the checkpoint when a motorcyclist gets 10 euros to drive the migrants around the controls. The customers get back in the truck we have one to 3 customers pajoy me. We left the capital and began our trip to agadez. Anyone heading to algeria must pass through here during the rainy season rivers overflowing their banks and roads become barely passable. We were slowly guided through. The day is the hub for migrants on their way to algeria and libya for decades local twi reg nomads owned a legal and good living here leading people through the desert once they used to be mainly tourists then it was african migrants. But now the twa are regarded as criminal people smugglers many are unemployed. And thought this work brings us credible sums of money more lives i look at them and the government wants to compensate us with 1500 or 2500 euro. Missiles and can kill but some isnt enough to give the young people the courage to stop this job but. It is. This man was the head of the agadez de coeur to libya until the government confiscated his cars i dont know 11 orator and those who used to have cars dont have them anymore those who used to have 2 wives dont have a single one anymore weve lost everything all our belongings. The e. U. Has promised 2500 euros to each person affected by the crackdown on the migration market allegedly only 300 have received compensation and the official list of recipients seems problematic illegal because he dismissed as completely useless and im discovering more and more names here that have nothing to do with it that im ok today as a Student University but i am a model has nothing to do with it thats the younger brother of our sultan he doesnt work. The men have asked the mayor for a meeting about the list but their requests have gone unanswered some say their frustration could escalate. If you paid double this it would be my message to the European Union and its partner the government of nigeria you must find a solution for us otherwise only god knows what will happen he said sub 6 of us if i separate with no other viable employment options migration through the desert continues here sticks will being distributed for the passengers to hold onto as the jeeps raced through the desert. The men told us that they work regularly in libya. What else can i do im paul and a man mustnt be idle i have 3 wives and 6 children are my supposed to feed them ive been going to libya regularly since 2012. Been there before found nothing and returned now im trying again. The e. U. Is willing to commit both money and political influence to stop migrants from coming into europe and to keep africans in africa in the past 6000 people per week started the journey to the north today there are 600 this might look like an early success but the price is high there are thousands who can no longer earn and live in frustrated nomads who may revolt and an entire region with Free Movement has been restricted. In their. If you promise something. To maximize profits for france germans or bankers cultural up against all logic of sustainability or conservation the one who keeps track of the payments the really benefits from the 1000000000 year old has the ultimate spottable. How about taking a few risks you could even take a chance on loves. Her children. Dont expect happy ending. The church. Stress. Burnley the global tourist guide for germanys booming capital i love berlin thats the scope of the multicultural metropolis you know were duramax series to the town. Its not like. Im nothing even once shown once again 6 who looks west like me described as 50 nations 50 story. And 50 very personal tips on berlins very best features the food. The land covered with kong t w. Cut. This is g w news coming to life from Us Democratic candidates face off in a new debate theyre seeking the woman or men most likely to beat trump in the 2020 election but as an ideological divide emerges will the moderates or the progressive is win the day also coming up fears grow among failed Asylum Seekers here in germany as the government tightens the laws on deportations many more will now be forced to leave the country against their will