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Survivor's Ink Gives Sex Trafficking Survivors A Second Life; Can a Single Picture Change Public Opinion? Syrian Refugees Stuck on Train Outside Budapest; China Puts on Largest Military Parade In Its History. Aired 11:00a-12:00p ET
Aired September 03, 2015 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[11:00:11] VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well, human thing is to make clear please don't come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN MANN, HOST: Blunt message ignored by thousands. On trains and tracks, migrants wait for Europe's response as divisions on the
continent deepen. We're on a train packed with asylum seekers in just a moment.
Also ahead, a family destroyed in their attempt to reach safety. Details emerge about the little Syrian boy whose death shocked the world.
Plus, a parade with purpose: China marks 70 years since the end of World War II, but says it's cutting its military manpower. More from
Beijing coming up.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World.
MANN: Thanks for joining us. There are signs Europe's migrant crisis may be fracturing its political landscape, exposing divisions between
wealthier western European countries and their eastern neighbors.
In Budapest, Hungary today, desperate people push to get on board trains, hoping but not knowing if they were traveling west. That is
Germany and France sent a proposal to the EU calling on member countries to share the burden and take in more migrants and refugees.
We're also seeing images like this one. Migrants literally clinging to the tracks on which they were traveling after being taken off of trains.
These people said they were afraid they'd be relocated to a refugee camp inside Hungary rather than being allowed passage to Germany.
Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban is meeting with EU leaders to discuss the crisis. He seemed to shift responsibility to the Germans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ORBAN: The problem is not a European problem. The problem is a German problem. Nobody 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 insists on that nobody can leave Hungary
without registration (inaudible) Germany, we will register them. It's a must.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: And Mr. Orban had a message for the migrants themselves as well.
(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)
MANN: Arwa Damon has been following every aspect of the migrant crisis for CNN from speaking to refugees from Syria to following their
journeys across the Mediterranean and up through eastern Europe. Arwa joins us now from on board a train carrying migrants that's been stopped
outside Hungary's capital. Hala Gorani is standing by in Berlin, a destination that many of those migrants are hoping to reach.
Arwa, I want to start with you. We have been watching as this mystery has unfolded and in real time. Thousands, or at least hundreds of people
on a train whose destination wasn't known, whose fate wasn't known. What's going on now?
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, still stuck. We haven't moved for about three hours. 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 try to pass 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.
These two little girls literally they cried themselves to sleep just a short while ago. Everyone is exhausted. Their parents don't really know
what to do. They don't know how to keep their kids safe anymore. They are in many instances saying that they regret bringing them here, that they
regret leaving their homeland, even though they did choose to make this very, very risky and dangerous journey, because they did believe that if
they stayed back in their homelands -- and most of these people are refugees of the wars in Iraq and Syria -- they would surely have ended up
dead.
So why not take a chance? Why not take a chance and try to get to Europe where at least they believe that their kids can have a future.
The problem is that when you speak to many of them right now, they're really not sure what that future is going to look like.
This train left the station in Budapest today. For the first time since Monday, migrants and refugees were allowed to board. They were
hoping that a very small hope that maybe this train would end up taking them all the way to Germany, at the very least they thought they would get
to the Austrian-Hungarian border. But now we've been stopped here for the last three to four hours just about 30 kilometers outside of Budapest.
The police force outside 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 buses and go and report to the refugee camp to get registered and processed.
The problem is, Jonathan, 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 that's located on its border
with Serbia with conditions were absolutely inhumane and they were treated like animals to all of them.
[11:05:28] MANN: Arwa Damon on that mystery train. And just before we leave Arwa, a word we have been in touch with authorities in Hungary,
with authorities at the train company and with the police in Hungary, all trying to find out exactly what these people are being told and where
they're headed. We haven't heard back from them.
But in the meantime, Hala Gorani is in Berlin in Germany, of course, the destination for many of those people on the move. And I want to talk
to you about that, but I want to talk to you first of all, Hala, about one refugee in particular, a youngster whose death has now shocked people
around the world. He was, of course, a Syrian boy drowned whose photographed body has appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the
world.
You're learning more about him. What can you tell us?
HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hundreds of thousands of people have made the dangerous journey from either Turkey or North Africa to
countries in Europe, but it is really the image of one little boy that has captured the attention of the world that has spread in a viral fashion on
social media and that has sparked indignation and outrage. His name is Aylan Kurdi, 3 years old, and this is his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: We now know his name: Aylan Kurdi, 3 years old. The picture of him face down on 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 UK showed Aylan in the arms of a Turkish policeman, tiny victim of a human catastrophe. In Germany, not even a
headline for Bilt just the image with plain text urging Europe to act.
Even in the U.S., a full frontpage 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 Galep
(ph) 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 MP: I delivered the latter 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.
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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, even the French president is reacting to this image that as we've been telling our viewers has really spread around the world
and has captured the attention of so many as saying this image and the death of this little boy is calling on the European conscience.
The question is, though, beyond words, beyond rhetoric, are these European leaders willing to do more than make statements and actually offer
more settlement places to Syrian refugees and refugees from other war torn nations, Jonathan.
MANN: Aylan Kurdi's family, of course, wants to get to Canada. That not withstanding, we just heard the prime minister of Hungary say that it's
not a European problem, it is a German problem. Hungary's problem, he says, is simply to register all the migrants and refugees because he says
Germany insists on it. It is a must, said Prime Minister Orban. What are they saying in Germany about remarks like those?
GORANI: Germany is saying, and the Chancellor Angela Merkel in this country is saying, look, we have to be flexible. She says we know that
Germans are thorough, that we have a system here that would allow us to do things in an organized way, but we also have to be flexible. And not just
Germany, Jonathan, Angela Merkel is saying other European countries have to be flexible and generous and open their doors as well and that there has to
be a fair and equitable distribution of these refugees and these migrants across Europe. Here's what she had to say about this question just a short
time ago today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[11:10:13] ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): We are committed to the Geneva refugee convention and receiving migrants and
refugees should be a matter of a natural impulse.
Those who have to obtain shelter and refuge, they ought to have that shelter and refuge and that is enshrined in the Geneva convention, that is
a very important legal proscription.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: There you have Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel very different approaces to the problem from Hungary on the one hand and other
countries who are not so welcoming to refugees. And Angela Merkel who is saying we need a coordinated approach and we certainly need other countries
to be more open to taking in some of these desperate refugees than they are at present.
Back to you, Jonathan.
MANN: Hala Gorani in Berlin. Thanks very much.
Let's talk about one of those other countries. As we mentioned, the young Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi who drowned off the coast of Turkey might have
been in Canada already if his family's asylum application had been approved. At least one member of the Canadian parliament says his country
should have taken in many more refugee families by now.
CNN's Paula Newton joins us now from New York. And Paula, we usually find you in Canada reporting on events there. How is this photo resonating
there?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORESPONDENT: Well, it's turned into a full blown political crisis and it's a bit depressing that it's been politicized
often, but there is a national election campaign underway right now in Canada and the immigration minister, Christopher Alexander, he's the
person, his office received this application from this family, his aunt, the little boy's aunt claims in March. It was officially rejected in June.
Now having said that, we've all been messaging the minister early this morning. He sent out a statement saying that he was suspending his
election campaign and would be heading now to Ottawa to look into this issue. And I just want you to see the statement that he has right now
saying that in fact he understands that "the tragic photo of young Aylan Kurdi and the news of the death of his brother and mother broke hearts
around the world," adding that, "of course like Canadians, I was deeply saddened by that image."
Now, he goes on to say that he is headed back up to his headquarters in Ottawa to look at all the specifics in this case.
But Jonathan, if we can just put this in context for you. It has been years now that Syrian groups, multi-faith groups, have been trying to
resettle. There have been several hundred resettled to date in Canada, that's it. So far the conservative government in this election campaign
has said they would resettle 10,000 more over the next three years, but many people are saying, look, you could take a lot more. Canada certainly
has a history of doing so.
And what's been so frustrating for these families is that they have nieces, uncles, cousins, mothers, fathers all held up in these refugee
camps. They're now trying to scramble throughout Europe to find refuge, when they have perfectly good safe homes for them in Canada. And they've
been very frustrated by how long this process has taken.
MANN: It is a nightmare for these families. And it hinges on paperwork.
So let me ask you about the paperwork in this case. There are some reports that say the Canadian government rejected the application. There
are other reports that say the Canadian government rejected the application because Turkey didn't want to let the family leave Turkey when it sought
shelter there.
How much do we know?
GORANI: Look, this is an absolute minefield, Jonathan, especially when you start to look at specific cases.
I have tried and cannot get specific information about any of these cases, as much as I've tried in the last few years, because the immigration
department says, look, this is a privacy issue, we can't just release information to you about these files.
Having said that, I know that in this case, for instance, there were documents missing. Where were those documents, Jonathan? Apparently in
Kobani, which as we all know has been really a battleground between ISIS right now and rebel fighters.
It is a nightmare. And I want to also point out that one thing that Canada has been very explicit about is they've said, look, we've put the
priority on ethnic and religious minorities because we think that they are heavily being persecuted in these countries. That's true, absolutely,
especially when you look at Christians and Yazidis.
But many people in Canada are saying, look, the process just isn't going quickly enough. And that's the problem.
MANN: Paula Newton, live in New York. Thanks very much.
Still ahead, the power of a single photo as that shocking images of Aylan Kurdi we've been talking about may ultimately come to symbolize
Europe's migrant crisis. We speak to a man who took another photo, this one, to explore whether pictures can influence events. Stay with us.
And flexing its military muscle, China shows off its army and weaponry while also sending a message about downsizing for peace. We'll have
details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:17:19] MANN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World. I'm Jonathan Mann.
CNN has been following the refugee and migrant crisis for many months. And as we have seen, people fleeing violence and war are risking their
lives to reach safety in Europe. Countries have been struggling to respond with varied results. The heart wrenching image we showed you a short time
ago is of one young boy, but it represents a massive crisis that's overwhelming Europe and taking lives.
Our next guest argues photos like that one need to be shown even if they're difficult to look at. Human Rights Watch says people should be
offended by their politicians' lack of action in the face of suffering and death, not by pictures showing the results of that failure.
We're joined now by Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch emergency director responsible for coordinating the organization's response to major
crises.
Thanks so much for being with us.
Let me ask you, honestly, we hear about the deaths of migrants so often. It's a tragic and familiar experience to anyone who is even
remotely following the news. What does that photo add to the debate? What does that photo tell us?
PETER BOUKAERT, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: I think the photo really exemplifies the crisis. Aylan Kurdi and his family tried to legally
emigrate to Canada where they have many relatives from the completely destroyed town of Kobani in Syria after Daesh, the Islamic State, took
control of that town.
They were rejected, so they put their hands in the lives of these criminal smuggling networks and ended up dead on the beach. Not just him,
but also his brother and his mother.
You know, I'm in Hungary right now talking to family after family. And I think we have to understand that Syrians parents are desperately
trying to take their kids away from the horror of war in Syria and bring them to a better life in Europe. They should be welcomed rather than face
all these obstacles and walls and dangers.
MANN: Let me ask you, because literally if you're on the border with Hungary and Serbia you know about the obstacles that governments are trying
to erect literally a wall that Hungary is putting up, adding military forces to the border, what's going on around you? What are you seeing?
BOUCKAERT: Well, we are awash in a sea of humanity. What we are seeing is parents carrying their children for hours in the heat -- I mean,
it is still extremely hot here, close to 100 degrees, for hours, trekking through Serbia and then they come to the Hungarian border and are in great
fear, because they know the moment they cross the Hungarian border, that they will be taken to dismal camps, detention camps where they will spend
days and that their way to Germany and other western European countries is blocked.
They're afraid for their children and for the obstacles that still lie ahead.
[11:20:07] MANN: Now Hungary is arguing that it is fulfilling its legal and moral obligations to these people and says in fact the migrants,
the refugees, the people on the move, whatever you want to call them, have obligations as well to respect the legal process that's been set up to take
care of them, to do what authorities ask, to register and to spend some time while they're being processed in the refugee centers that their host
government is providing. That's clearly not the case.
Are you moved at all by what Hungary is saying? Can you understand why the refugees don't want to do what the Hungarian government says it is
their obligation to do?
BOUCKAERT: That's absolute rubbish. Hungary is doing nothing for these asylum seekers except imposing misery on them. They put them in
detention camps without clean water, where people and children are sleeping on the floor by the dozens and the hundreds in the heat.
I talked to a parent, a couple, who had a newborn baby. They were locked inside a police vehicle with 100 other people for an entire night
with one bottle of water to share among them in one of these detention camps.
Just this morning, the Hungarian authority tricked people at the main train station saying they were going to get on a train to Germany, then
pulled them violently off the train after telling the media to leave and put them in yet another detention camp.
We don't need more detentions and fences, we need humane solutions that allow these desperate people to get refuge and not to force them to
sleep on the streets of Budapest.
MANN: You have seen people in distress, you have seen humanitarian catastrophe, you have seen populations on the move all over the world.
What goes through your mind as you see this now in Europe in the 21st Century?
BOUCKAERT: Well, I think we should be outraged that Syrian children are washing up dead on our beaches and we should be outraged by the callous
indifference of our politicians. Just to put things in perspective, they talk about Europe being flooded by refugees, Europe drowning in refugees.
Actually, the entire number of people seeking asylum in Europe last year in 2014 represent 0.03 percent of the population of Europe. And the entire
number of Syrians who have been granted asylum in the UK so far under David Cameron could fit on a single tube (inaudible) in London. That's just
despicable.
We need to help these people. We have not been able to foster the international solidarity to stop the slaughter in Syria. And after that
failure, the least we can do is to provide them refuge and a better life for their children in Europe.
MANN: Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch, thanks so much for talking with us.
And we have breaking news coming in to CNN. A French prosecutor says that investigators now say with certainty that a wing part found on Reunion
Island was from Malasyia's missing MH370, a flight that took off in 2014 and literally disappeared off the radar.
The debris they found, that part you can see on the screen, is known as a flaperon and it washed ashore on the French territory in the Indian
Ocean not far from Madagascar in July. Authorities don't know why the jet veered off course during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March of
last year, nor do they know exactly where its journey ended, but once again breaking news coming in to CNN after weeks of uncertainty investigators now
confirming that a wing part found on Reunion Island was from missing MH370. Roughly 240 passengers and crew were aboard that flight, their fate utterly
still a mystery.
Live from Atlanta, this is Connect the World. Coming up, China shows off its military might to mark 70 years since the end of World War II. Now
the president made some news during a big speech to the troops.
Also ahead, the drop in oil prices isn't translating into lower costs at the pump for drivers in India. We'll tell you who is getting all that
extra money.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:25:59] MANN: Welcome back.
Over the past year, the price of crude oil has been cut in half, that's been an enormous benefit to oil importing countries, including
India. Drivers there say, though, that they're not seeing much of a difference.
For the latest in our series "Oil: A Global Price War," Mallika Kapur explains why falling prices are not filtering down to consumers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Truck: the lifeline of India's economy. They connect corners, they connect consumers.
Balmanfrit Singh (ph) owns a fleet of 400 trucks. With global oil prices plummeting, you'd expect his fuel costs to fall, but he says no.
Look at the numbers, since India imports around 75 percent of its fuel, cheaper crude means a lower import bill. In fact, India says it
saves $1 billion for every dollar drop in the price of crude.
But, if the money isn't being passed on to regular folk like Singh, where is it going?
It turns out the big winner from cheap crude is not the Indian consumer, it's the Indian state. And that's because it's gotten rid of
subsidies.
Let's think of it this way, earlier India would spend, say, this much to buy very expensive fuel. It would then sell the same fuel at a
subsidized rate to its consumers, meaning it would just get this much, leaving a gap in the market, leaving a shortfall.
Now that the price of oil has fallen so much, India is still buying oil, spending, say, just about this much for its oil. It's selling the
same oil to its consumers for this much. As you can see, there's no shortfall.
In reality, India is saving a reported $23 billion a year, spare cash that's helped India plug its fiscal deficit, cash that can used to fund
essential infrastructure projects. It's also allowed the state to control inflation, keeping it at well below its target range of 6 percent.
So, India has taken the opportunity of cheaper global oil prices to finally cut decades old fuel subsidies, the problem is if crude rises
again, this time the consumer will have to pay up.
Mallika Kapur, CNN, Mumbai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: The latest world news headlines just ahead plus China's military puts on a spectacular display for Beijing and beyond. How the
high tech hardware it showed off at the parade may have been a message to the world.
And 26 years ago in that same square in Beijing, this, an image that was seen around the world. What can images really do to change our times?
We speak to award-winning photographer Steve McCurry in about 10 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:31:35] MANN: This is Connect the World. I'm Jonathan Mann with the top stories this hour.
Chaotic scenes in Hungary as trains packed with Syrian refugees were halted by police outside the capital Budapest. They had been headed
towards the Austrian border, but authorities told those aboard to get off the trains and board buses to camps for processing. Have a look now at
live pictures coming to us from the station. Our Arwa Damon brought us the latest from inside one of those carriages where dozens and dozens of
migrants are waiting to continue on their journey to Germany. They are refusing to get off.
Turkish police have taken four Syrian citizens into custody on suspicion of human trafficking. Their detentions are in connection with
the deaths of 12 refugees in the Aegean Sea, including 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, that according to a Kurdish news agency. Pictures of the
youngster's body lying on the beach near Bodram (ph) went viral Wednesday.
Chinese soldiers, tanks and other state of the art military hardware all on display at a massive parade marking 70 years since the end of World
War II, the largest military parade China has ever seen. And it may be the largest it ever sees, at least in the forseeable future. President Xi
Jinping told the crowd that plans were in the works to scale back the Chinese military by 300,000 soldiers.
CNN's Will Ripley has more on the parade.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A technicolor show of force: China boldly displaying new high tech weapons of war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Its prowess, military prowess, its military might and power.
RIPLEY: The world's largest military presented as a force of peace and stability as China remains locked in territorial disputes with many
Asian neighbors and key U.S. allies, including Japan.
The parade's timing 70 years after Japan's World War II defeat, analysts say is no coincidence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China knows very well that the eyes of the world will be watching this military parade and the eyes of the world will be
looking very closely at military capabilities through this parade.
RIPLEY: The People's Liberation Army, or PLA, revealing many weapons kept hidden from the public until now: long range missiles, known as
carrier killers, capable of sinking ships, which could neutralize U.S. naval power; attack drones, heavier and most sophisticated than ever; all
of it made in China.
President Xi Jinping promising a peaceful road ahead.
XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): China will never be aggressive. We'll never invade other countries. We'll not impose on
other countries what it has gone through.
RIPLEY: Every channel in China ordered to play programs about past wars that killed millions of Chinese. State media crediting Communist
troops for the victory when in fact nationalist KMT troops bore the brunt of the losses.
"This really upsets me," says this 96 year old KMT veteran. "The Communist Party's propaganda blinds and fools many people."
This spectacular display a huge inconvenience for those who couldn't leave their homes or even open windows during the parade. But some
Beijingers didn't seem to mind.
"We just have to sacrifice for this kind of parade," says this state worker who hasn't been able to drive her car.
Traffic restrictions and factory closures dramatically reduced Beijing's notorious air pollution, leaving skies parade blue, a perfect day
to show off to world leaders, including Russia's Vladimir Putin. Noticeably absent, the U.S., UK, Australia and Japan.
"I feel very proud," says this engineering graduate. "The army of my country is truly grand and strong."
The biggest military parade in Chinese history 70 years after the end of World War II, China showing off its growing arsenal, making clear it's a
force to be reckoned with.
Will Ripley, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:35:26] MANN: We've been learning more about a young victim who has become a tragic symbol of Europe's migrant crisis. The images of his
lifeless body washed ashore on a beach in Turkey, shocking and angering people around the world. As we've been reporting, four Syrians have been
taken into custody in connection with the deaths.
We're going to show you that photo again with a warning that once again that it is disturbing. Have a look at the body of 3-year-old Aylan
Kurdi. He was on a boat, along with his family, carrying Syrian migrants trying to reach Greece. That boat capsized. 12 people on board drowned,
including Aylan and his older brother.
You can see the brothers together alive. It's not known when or where this photo was taken, clearly, though, in happier times.
The boy and his family were fleeing Kobani, Syria, the city just south of the Turkish border is in ruins after a long and bloody siege by ISIS.
For more, Nick Paton Walsh joins us now live from Beirut, Lebanon. Nick, I gather that CNN Beirut has been in touch with the youngster's
father. What did you learn?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Abdullah (ph), the father of the family, his entire family, killed on that boat has given a
very moving account of their last moments alive together. One key quote of what he said to our producer Roger Razak (ph) stands out.
"The smugglers don't fear gods," he said.
Now he describes how they had after initially moving to Kobani from Damascus in 2012, fled Kobani when that city became the seat of clashes
between ISIS and Kurdish forces. And they fled to Turkey to the capital Istanbul. And tried three times to leave initially to Canada where they
had relatives, but then eventually gave up on that, and the third attempt was this attempt where they wanted to Greece and then ultimately reach
Sweden.
Now he describes how, yes, they paid smugglers, Turkish and Syrian smugglers, to put them on this small fiberglass boat, but there was 12
other people on board. And he describes how as they set sail it was clear not far out that the water was going to start lapping over the sides of the
boat. And in fact he appealed to the man piloting the boat to turn around and apparently the smuggler said, no, this trip is guaranteed, it's
guaranteed. We will get you where you need to go.
And then it became clear there was further peril ahead. The smuggler himself left the boat, and Abdullah (ph) himself says he tried to pilot the
boat to safety, clearly that failed and he had to watch or at least try and prevent the deaths of his two sons on that boat and wife as well.
He now says he wishes to bury them in Kobani, not in Turkey, and (inaudible) remarkable sense, obviously, of loss and regret where he talked
about how he wished he'd never got on that boat.
But, you know, they were fleeing in Kobani. We don't know exactly when they left, how bad the violence had got when they got there, but
fleeing a town which was almost frankly leveled by the intense clashes between ISIS and the Kurdish forces there.
The Kurds backed up by coalition airpower, which contributed so much of the damage that ISIS's car bombs did to that town. It's so hard for it
to rebuild.
But their journey so complex, so much to some degree about try to reach a better life in parts of western Europe, Sweden in particular, after
their bid to Canada failed.
And so common, frankly, a story you hear in this region where it's those who try and get to Europe that often have the better resources than
those who are simply stuck here, Jonathan, in the Middle East.
MANN: Yeah, you talk about those who are stuck here in the Middle East. There are what 1.2 million, maybe 2 million Syrian refugees stuck
essentially in Lebanon. How are they faring there?
WALSH: Well, that's just Lebanon. Bear in mind the broader picture. I mean, there could be anything like about 11 million Syrian who have been
displaced. But there are three or four million or so million or so known of outside of the country and then a huge number inside the country itself.
The impact on Lebanon has been devastating. One in four people you will meet in this country is a Syrian refugee. So, I mean, you know,
people talk about the influx into Europe, but it really absolutely pales into insignificance what Lebanon has had to deal with.
And we caught up with just two of the now fatherless Syrian boys who were trying simply to make some kind of life for themselves by selling
flowers on the streets here in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH: In the hustle and hedonism of central Beirut bars, the glow brings little comfort to the youngest on the street. Little and Big Ahmed
share more than 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 didn't 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 dollars each night. Little Ahmed doesn't want his face shown in case
people think he's poor.
"The world will hear that we're beggars," he says. "I don't like that, because I'm a flower seller. I came from Aleppo with mom and dad,
but we didn't come no 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 have never really known education or stability
and whose scars will be felt in the Middle East for decades to come.
[11:41:47] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you think of the perspectives of the numbers that we're talking about here in Lebanon compared to the
numbers of children and families that are arriving on the borders of Europe, there's nothing comparable. There is no government that can handle
that kind of influx. Everybody needs to fund the situation here.
WALSH: And this really is a family business. Little Ahmed walking us to his mother's spot at the traffic lights. Beirut's 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 have heard of
people who make that choice. It is because they want better. Here you get to sleep without shelling over your head, but I prefer Syria. We will
definitely go back one day.
WALSH: 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)
MANN: Nick Paton Walsh reporting from Beirut.
Well, that image of the little Syrian boy on the beach has grabbed headlines around the world, showing the real life impact of the crisis
facing Europe, the latest in the long line of images that have come to somehow capture a given conflict or crisis.
Have a look at some images like these, a Chinese man standing in front of tanks as part of anti-government protests in 1989 have come to symbolize
Tienanmen Square and the struggle against injustice ever since.
The U.S. civil war was one of the first major conflicts to be photographed extensively. Images like this allowing the public to witness
the true horrors of the conflict.
American photographer Steve McCurry may be best known for his photo of an Afghan girl in a refugee camp along the Afghan-Pakistan border. She was
one of millions who was forced to flee the Soviet invasion of Aghanistan. Steve McCurry joins us now from Hamburg, Germany.
Thanks so much for being with us. I want to ask you first of all not about your picture, but the picture everyone is seeing today, Aylan Kurdi,
the 3-year-old boy who drowned. Some people think this is the picture that will change minds, that will change policies, that will change the fate of
all of those suffering people.
Do you think that will happen? Do photos have that kind of power?
STEVE MCCURRY, PHOTOGRAPHER: Oh, absolutely. I think back to that incredible, powerful picture of Nick Ut having that little girl who was
napalmed during the Vietnam war and how that picture in some ways changed public opinion against the war in a major way.
I think that these kind of pictures that show the harsh reality, the unvarnished truth, I mean I think we need to see those pictures because
with the reality I think has to really be driven home to us.
MAN: When in fact did your photograph of that young Afghan girl have. I mean, there was still so much suffering in that country, for decades,
after you took it. And the fate of women in that country didn't get a whole better.
What strikes you about that picture, apart from the fact that to be honest it is so remarkably beautiful.
MCCURRY: Well, the -- I think there's a -- you know, Afghans are an amazing people. I think the picture captured people's imagination because
there's a genuine, authentic quality to this little girl who is very pretty, she had incredible eyes, but there's something deeply disturbing
about her gaze. And I think people -- I know many people went to Pakistan to work in the refugee camps based on that picture. They were inspired to
go there and help.
This picture has stayed with us and continues to be kind of a picture which really comes to symbolize Afghan refugees for the last 30 years.
MANN: And just for what it's worth, her name is Sharbat Gula. She is now an adult. She's still alive and well and has made a new life for
herself in Pakistan.
Let me ask you, though, about using -- she was 12 at the time, and clearly the world was captivated by her. Now the world is being shocked by
this photograph of a dead 3 year old. And there was some photo editors, some people within the photograph community, who said they didn't want to
see that image so widely distributed, because in a way it just cheapens it. It takes the life of this young child and turns it into another disposal
image for the internet.
Do you share that concern?
MCCURRY: I don't agree with that at all. I think that we need to see the truth, we need to see what's happening in our world. And I think the
reporters and the photographers and we need to go out and tell these stories regardless of how disturbing they are. I think that that's small
child, that little boy I think we need to tell his story, because there's so many other children just like that and something clearly needs to be
done. This a a problem, which is really just getting started. It's going to get worse over the next, you know, months to come. So I think we need
to see those pictures and hopefully that will affect some sort of change.
MANN: Photographer Steve McCurry, thanks so much for talking with us.
Live from Atlanta, this is Connect the World. Coming up, sex trafficking victims moving beyond their painful past. How new ink is
helping them reclaim their lives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back.
CNN's Freedom Project is shining a light on human trafficking, and in this week's special series on branding. When sex traffickers literally
mark their victims with tattoos to show ownership. Our Sara Sidner has the story of one woman who is covering up that painful reminder and in the
process rewriting her future.
( BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[11:50:02] JENNIFER KEMPTON, SURVIVOR: The survivors I work with are helps me heal more than anything.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jennifer Kempton is healing herself and helping others at the same time.
KEMPTON: Hi, sweetie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
SIDNER: A survivor of sex slavery who was branded by her trafficker, she now runs Survivor's Ink, a small non-profit that pays for victims to
have their tattoos covered up. Today is Angela Ritter's term. The branding on her upper arm is a constant reminder of her days on the
streets.
ANGELA RITTER, SURVIVOR: I work very hard to keep it covered, to keep it out of sight, because the most humiliating thing in the world is to have
someone say what's that say?
And here I have Black's Beauty with a big dollar sign in between, you know. Well, that says I'm somebody's hoe.
I felt like I would never completely own my own body again, you know. And after today I will.
SIDNER: Even as Angela looks to the future, she's still haunted by the past, remembering how at a very vulnerable point in her life, she
trusted the wrong people and was forced into sexual slavery.
RITTER: 20 years ago, I was June Cleaver, you know. Room mom, team mom, just involved in everything my kids did, you know, really respected in
my community. And from that to an addicted street walker, it was just devastating to anybody and everybody who knew me.
[08:25:03] SIDNER: Angela spent 13 years under the control of traffickers, hooked on drugs and forced to have sex with more men than she
can count.
RITTER: I just reached a point where I felt death on me. I mean, literally felt death on me every single day. It's like god was just
screaming at me that if I didn't get help and get out now, that I was going to die there.
So, I couldn't just say, hey, I'm leaving, you know, it wasn't going to work like that. So I actually used the excuse that I'm going to run
over to the store before they close I'll be right back. And as soon as I got around the corner from the apartment and you couldn't -- you know to
where I knew they couldn't see me out the window, I ran and I ran and I ran and I ran.
SIDNER: Now Angela is running toward her future by quite literally covering up part of her past.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How's it going?
KEMPTON: This is Angela.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, nice to meet you.
RITTER: Nice to meet you.
SIDNER: Evolved Body Art is more than just a tattoo parlor.
UNIDENTFIED MALE: So here is the design that I have drawn.
RITTER: Perfect.
SIDNER: It's a business that has joined the fight against human trafficking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to get you prepped and then I'll put the stencil on where I think it will work the best.
SIDNER: Mike Prickett (ph) is a tattoo artist who donates his time rebranding sex trafficking survivors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead and look straight ahead for me still.
It's the right thing to do. If you can help someone out, help them out. It's very simple. It's a very easy way to look at life.
Do you like that?
RITTER: Oh, yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say, bye.
RITTER: Bye, bye.
SIDNER: Working with Survivor's Ink it's a little bit more stressful because you know what kind of importance is riding on this coverup.
RITTER: They could tell me I won the lottery and I couldn't be more excited about anything than this right now.
This is so awesome.
I'm still thinking I'm dreaming like I'm going to wake up and be like, oh.
Oh, wow, it's gone.
UNIDENTFIED MALE: You're not going to be able to know it.
RITTER: Oh, my god.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You happy?
RITTER: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
RITTER: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead and check it out.
RITTER: That is too cool.
UNIDENITIFIED MALE: You see people come in and they're -- you know, she's kind of embarrassed about it. She's talking about wearing Band-Aids
over it. And you can see she just immediately started carrying herself differently. That's a good feeling, like that's the best part of it for
me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:56:43] MANN: Welcome back.
Wars in the Middle East are preventing millions of children from going to school. In tonight's Parting Shots, a bright spot.
That bell signals the start of the school day at this Hataari Refugee Camp (ph) in Jordan. The children's (inaudible) who are Syrian are back in
the classroom and this year is different, the UN says all of them will now have access to education, and that's a lot of kids.
Half of the camp's 81,000 residents are children. This year's crop of kindergartners is the largest ever. Kindergartners alone numbering more
than 3,000.
That's the (inaudible) fourth grade teacher at the camp's school. She welcomed her students back, but was also firm, telling them they have to be
more active and disciplined than last year.
Work harder. Kids are kids.
I'm Jonathan Mann. You've been watching Connect the World. Thanks for joining us.
END
