I am soran qurbani. 12 years ago, i smuggled my way into europe from iran. Now, i working for the bbc and i am investigating what is happening to refugees like me on that route today. We met with refugees in turkey who managed to escape, but lost everything in the process. And those trying to tackle it. Call to prayer van city, in turkey, on the border with iran and the gateway to europe for many hundreds of thousands of Afghan Refugees. For decades, people have been smuggled from afghanistan through iran, and into turkey. These undocumented migrants have been fleeing civil war, poverty and persecution. When the taliban retook power in august 2021, the numbers increased. An underground network of smugglers operate safe houses across van city for those who have just made it to turkey. Houses, flats, stables, all repurposed to hide the thousands of refugees coming in each year. Ahkmed is in his early 20s. The blood you can see is a broken nose. It happened while crossing the border into turkey. We have changed his name and the names of other refugees for their safety. They make this perilous journey, despite full knowledge of the risks. But there is a new threat, and one everyone in this safe house seems to be aware of. This man showed me a video that he had just received on telegram. Videos of this horrendous torture are going viral on afghan social media accounts, but it hasnt stopped people coming. Over 3 million Afghan Refugees currently live here. The majority are undocumented. Life there is very difficult, so many are trying to make it across the border into turkey. But in recent years, it is at this Crossing Point that gangs are exploiting their vulnerability. Akhmed had first hand experience of these ransom demands. His brother was kidnapped with his extended family when they tried to flee the taliban last year. It was akhmed who received the calls back home and the demands for ransom. Families desperate to do anything to save their loved ones. And, yet, six months after his brothers ordeal, akhmed took that very same risk. All this risk to get to europe. It took shahram five years and multiple detentions to make it to the uk. He is seeking asylum here, but he is originally from iran. His village is on the border with turkey and where many of these stories of torture are taking place. Over the past three years, he has been using his presence on social media to name and shame those he says are gang leaders responsible for this torture. This is where the journey starts, and what many hundreds of thousands are desperate to leave behind. The taliban retook afghanistan in august 2021, and now afghan nationals have been fleeing in Hundreds And Thousands ever since. I met said back where he started, in afghanistan. He has attempted this journey six times, the trauma of his last attempt still fresh in his mind. He had been promised a fake document that would allow him to cross into turkey. It was not until he reached khoy, a town at the border, that he realised it was a trap. He had been sold to a gang, who were holding him for ransom. About 20 kilometres from the turkish border. It was his family, and the shame he may bring to them, that tormented him. This all happened around this border all this risk, just to cross this man made line. Turkey built this wall, now covering more than half its border with iran, as a response to the influx of refugees. The idea of building this wall was to stop refugees crossing into turkey, but they are still coming. This time, they have to climb a 3m high wall with barbed wire and electronic sensors. And even when they do cross, danger lurks the other side. Those who are apprehended at the borderline by the authorities have been facing a 100 pushback. Mahmut kagan is a Human Rights Lawyer who represents refugees. He says the turkish authorities routinely push migrants back across the border, and that is when they are falling into the hands of violent gangs. Its very much related to the pushbacks, those violations, because it creates a fragile group and open to all forms of abuses. Almost every case of torture we came across in this investigation happened after the refugees had been pushed back across the border at night. Turkey hosts millions of refugees, more than any other country, but this criticism of the authorities came up again and again in our investigation. We put this allegation to the turkish government, but did not receive a response. In the face of similar accusations from human rights groups, the authorities have denied pushbacks, saying any activities to prevent illegal entry into turkey are carried out within the scope of border management. But some make it across into turkey. There is a careful operation to hand them to other smugglers to continue theirjourney. This is all too familiar. 12 years ago, i went through the same kind of operation passed from smuggler to smuggler, from this town all the way to the uk, where i was granted asylum. Refugees leave money with the middleman that is sent to the smuggler when they have made it safely across. He has now been handed on to the next smuggler in the chain, who will take him to istanbul. Sultanbeyli, or little afghanistan, is an area of istanbul that could be confused for kabul. Between 200,000 and 300,000 Afghan Refugees live in turkey. As usual, many are unregistered. It wasnt hard to find people who had also experienced kidnap and torture along the way. Cries out haji received these videos of torture from a man who had kidnapped his children. This is what they were threatening to do to his family. He sold his house in afghanistan to pay them off. Basheed, hajis son in law, had made it all the way to the border of iran and turkey with his wife, amina, and sister in law. When they were arrested, he begged to be deported in daylight. He knew the risks. They were one of the lucky ones to be released when haji paid the ransom. But the eight day ordeal on this border was too much for theirfamily. They are just one of the many Afghan Refugees and families who are enduring this torment and, yet, still trying to leave. Desperate to try again, despite all thats happened. Said told us weeks after this interview that he had reached tehran again. We have not heard from him since, and its been months. We continue to receive videos of groups of refugees kidnapped in iran these men were reportedly rescued by locals and others of villagers intervening to help the refugees. Yelling during this investigation, we have heard stories of torture from at least ten locations along the border of iran and turkey. I have been given the names of 1a different gang leaders reportedly responsible. The bbc cannot report inside iran, so it is impossible for us to visit these areas. We followed numerous leads, including Bank Account Details that we found were registered In The Name Of a child. I reached out to my network of contacts, including smugglers themselves. This man admitted that kidnapping has become a business on the border, although denied any involvement himself. We contacted the iranian authorities to ask about this disturbing trend and did not receive a response. Thousands of people are still crossing, facing unimaginable challenges to find safety. And even for those who make it, it is traumatic. I was born behind this wall. This is my country, that side. But the problem is, im not able to go there and im not allowed. I was thinking if i was able to go to my hometown, probably in a couple of hours driving, i would be there, and i could join my family for dinner. But i cant, yeah. Sorry. In van turkish Crossing Point, the risks taken are clear, starkly highlighted by those who didnt make it, remembered as a number, buried in unfamiliar earth. Hello. Junes certainly been a warm month for many of us and, at times, it has felt like the middle of summer. Talking of which, june 21st marks the first day of astronomical summer, or the summer solstice, and it will be the longest day of the year. But lets get to the forecast, then. This is the Satellite Picture from the last day or so, and that Weather Front that brought the rain to many parts of the country in the last 2a hours. It will be moving away northwards. But in its wake, well see an area of High Pressure developing towards the south and west, but will also be brushed by Weather Systems over the next few days in North Western areas of the uk. But the High Pressure to the south is also going to open up the doors to much warmer weather streaming our way from spain, portugal and france. So it does look as though its going to get hot towards the weekend. Thats still to come. Lets have a look at the forecast for wednesday, then, and starting on a clear note for many of us. And temperatures will be on the mild side first thing, between around 13 and 16 degrees celsius. So a dry morning for most, but certainly not for everybody, right from the word go. A few showers possible across Northern Ireland and scotland, and showers will also develop across wales and other parts of england, but not too many of them further south. Most of the showers will be further north, and this is where the heaviest of the ones will be, possibly one or two thunderstorms across eastern scotland, maybe one or two in the borders as well. Later in the afternoon, the weathers actually going to improve in Northern Ireland. The sun should come out for everybody. And across england and wales, just a scattering of showers here and there. And itll be warmest in Eastern Parts of england, with temperatures up to about 25 degrees celsius. That takes us into thursday, and thursday is also going to be another warm day, with temperatures widely into the low or the mid 20s. And again, one or two scattered showers are possible on thursday. And its going to be every bit as warm, i think, on friday too, with generally fine weather, at least across the bulk of the uk. However, in the north west of the country, as we head towards the weekend, we are going to be brushed by Weather Systems. So theres always a chance of some rain across parts of scotland and Northern Ireland. But further east and south, the weather will be drier and brighter. So heres the outlook into the weekend, and you can see these Climbing Temperatures to nearly 30 degrees celsius in the south by the time we get to sunday. Mid 20s, for example, in cardiff. Bye bye. Live from washington. This is bbc news. Welcome to viewers on pbs in america. The clock is ticking for Search And Rescue teams to find a missing submersible that disappeared on a trip hello, im sumi somaskanda. Time is running short in the race to save five people onboard a submersible missing in the North Atlantic near the site of the titanic. On sunday, all contact was lost with the sub, about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive
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