All language subtitles for BBC Mediterranean with Simon Reeve - 03 Eng

I'm on a journey around
the Mediterranean.

It's the sea that attracts
around a third of world tourism...

..the birthplace of civilisation...

Just look at that!

..where extraordinary wealth...

This one's got a helicopter on it.

..meets shocking poverty.

I take my flipping hat
off to them, I really do.

Look at the scale
of the destruction!

They're on the edge of the Med.

It's a sea of wild extremes.

Yes, yes, that!

On this third leg of my journey,
I'll travel along the coast

of North Africa,
from Libya to Tunisia,

and on to Sicily, the jewel
of the Mediterranean.

Where the sea meets the Sahara...

Where are you taking us?

..I find the last survivors
of a vanishing culture.

Look at this! The whole
thing's moving!

Well done, mate.

In Sicily, I meet the defiant
sisters making a stand

against the Mafia.

Quick!

And I head to the Mediterranean's
most chaotic country

to meet the fighters holding the
line against a ruthless enemy.

Sorry, crucify?

I'm on the third leg of my journey
around the Mediterranean.

I'm in Libya.

Right now, we're heading into
territory that until recently

was controlled by Daesh,
so-called Islamic State.

Warlords and gunmen
control much of Libya.

It's effectively in Civil War.

All of Libya is deemed
to be a hostile environment.

Islamic State were in
control of this area,

a 200 mile stretch
of coastal territory,

and they're still holed up just a
short drive

to the south of the road we were on.

It's one of the most troubled
corners of the entire Mediterranean.

In the white land cruiser
ahead of us

is one of the generals commanding
the forces in this area,

and he was one of the most senior
officers involved

in a battle to retake a town up
ahead from so-called Islamic State.

The town is Sirte.
It sits on the Mediterranean Sea,

So we're in the car with Malek here.

Is that the general on the
walkie-talkie? Yes.

Effectively a suicide vehicle?
Yes.

Malek's a Libyan American. As a
trusted guide and fixer

for TV teams, he's witnessed the
terrible conflict.

Sorry, crucify?

Yeah.

The battle to retake Sirte
from the grip of Islamic State

took six months. Ragtag Libyan
militia groups tackled

the militants, who are
mostly foreign.

There was house-to-house fighting,
and Libyan forces were helped

by nearly 500 American air strikes.

Bloody hell.

General Mohammed Al Grassi took me
to the heart of the battle,

scene of the fiercest fighting.

So the General's saying
watch your step, take the places

where we're walking, just, just...
Be very careful. Be very careful.

General, why?

Hundreds died in the fighting,
thousands were injured,

more than 90,000 people
fled their homes.

The damage here is still
on an apocalyptic scale.

It's a shattered city,
almost a ghost city,

strewn with land mines
and booby-traps.

This is astonishing.

This is some of the worst
destruction from conflict

I've seen anywhere in the world.

This is like Stalingrad
during the Second World War,

something like that.

You know, it's not just the remnants
of war that are littering the area

here, it's just stuff
of people's lives.

There's something very poignant
just about a shoe lying there.

I mean, for the destruction
to be on this level,

it suggests many things to me,
but the intensity of the fighting,

and perhaps also the fanaticism
of the Daesh fighters,

as they made their final stand.

What really gets me
about this horrific destruction,

perhaps because of where else
I've been, is the proximity

to the Mediterranean.

I just cannot get over the fact
that these beach-side,

seaside homes, they look out across
the sea towards Italy and Sicily.

They're on the edge of the Med.

And look at the scale
of the destruction.

There's been very little
clearing of the rubble,

let alone reconstruction.

Locals are desperate
for outside help.

We couldn't stay long.

IS fighters were just
a short drive away.

Sirte is still encircled
by defensive checkpoints.

They're effectively the front line
against another attempt on the city.

Have you found yourselves
in direct contact with Daesh?

Can you describe to us
what you've been through?

What did you do before
the fighting erupted?

You were a teacher,
and now you're a soldier.

Do you still feel like a civilian
inside, or are you a fighter now?

Could you go back to teaching?

You've seen and you've
experienced a lot,

but still there is
a teacher inside.

Good luck, OK?

I think it's really important
to remember that so many

of those young, tough blokes
were students or teachers

before the revolution,
before the fighting came

to this area.

They've put on a uniform,
but in their heart

they're still civilians. And they
want to go back to that.

Libya's current chaos
started in 2011.

After the revolution,
supported by Europe and America

and some Arab states,
overthrew the 40-year dictatorship

of Colonel Gaddafi,
the country then collapsed

into factional fighting.

There was a lot of division. Now we
have not one

but two governments, you know?
One on the east and one on the west.

And everyone's, you know,
fighting for power.

And hundreds and hundreds
of different armed militia groups,

many of them heavily armed. It
didn't work out the way

that we all wanted it to.

How much is petrol here, Tareq?

How much will it cost
to fill the tank?

From empty, about $1.4, US dollars.

So, about L1 to fill the
whole tank? Yes.

And oil should be a huge
benefit to Libya.

The country has more oil reserves
than any other country in Africa.

But at the moment,
it's part of the problem.

It's part of what the militia groups
and all the different armed elements

are fighting over.

All right, onwards.

Three hours along the coast
from Sirte,

we arrived into the city of Misrata.

Malek's hometown.

Misrata was relatively peaceful,
despite Libya's chronic instability.

Many people here were just trying
to get on with life.

What a guy!

He stepped up! He does it to
keep the city moving. Yes.

As well as being a guide
and working with TV crews,

Malek is moving into business.
Oh, wow!

He's in the process of building
a new wedding venue next to the Med,

on the outskirts of town.

Look at this! This is not what you
associate with a category one

hostile environment, is it?!
No, it's not.

Hello. How are you?
Hello! All right. How are you?

This is Muhammad. Hi, Muhammad.
Muhammed is our general manager!

All right. So, this is the hallway.
Bloody hell!

Look at the size of this!
Yes, it's quite big, isn't it?!

How many people will
you be able to fit in there?

So, we should be able to fit 500
people comfortably in the hall.

That's a big wedding! Yes.
It's a big wedding, yeah.

I mean, Libyans do big weddings.

We are looking at 30
days to opening.

30 days?! Yeah! You'd better crack
on, haven't you?

Yeah, we have lots to do.
We're putting in disco lights.

Of course you are! Yeah!

Because Libyan weddings sort of...
It's an all-women disco club,

really, that's the idea!
I see. OK.

Can we walk through it together?
Yeah, sure.

Go right through here,
through the wedding arch.

We're just testing it out here,
it's all completely normal!

You've got a beach view.
Good for the wedding vows.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah,
it's coming along.

We just put in these palm
trees three days ago.

What this says to me,
although I think you're very

realistic about the challenges
facing Libya at the moment,

you're pretty optimistic
about the future.

Well, I mean, you always
want to keep hope alive.

So, you know, always think
that things can get better.

So, you know, if a project
like this can make money,

then there might be other people
that are interested in doing other

projects, you know,
building a beach resort or building

things that, you know,
will benefit the people,

you know, create jobs. You know,
help feed families.

So, you know, you have to start
something and hopefully if it works,

you know, other people will join in.

And it'll just slowly but surely
make the country a better place

for all of us. That's a good speech!
There we go! Yeah!

Get that on the website.
Come on, then!

Thank you, mate. Good luck
with it, pal.

I appreciate it, Simon.

I left Misrata and travelled further
along Libya's Mediterranean coast.

Libya has long been the crossroads
between the Sahara and Africa

to the south, and the Mediterranean.

Even back to the time of antiquity.

This bit doesn't look like it,
but we are coming to one

of the greatest archaeological sites
around the entire Mediterranean.

In the entire world, frankly.

Leptis Magna is one of the finest
preserved Roman cities

on the planet, once home
to 80,000 people.

This was the classic
Roman imperial city...

..with its markets, streets,
aqueducts and theatres.

The Romans, of course,
built the greatest Mediterranean

empire of all, spanning the sea.

Leptis Magna was one
of their most vital ports,

shipping grain to Rome
from North Africa.

Ahmed is my guide
in this part of Libya.

Walk this way. Yeah.

How can your heart not
almost leap to your throat?

It is completely stunning.

If you come here,
just speak from here.

Go on, give it a try!

Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to a new Libya!

Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to Simon's show!

You're a good sport, mate!

As a place, if this was anywhere,
it would bring almost a tear

to the eye to see today. Yeah.

Look at this place.

I feel completely transported.

Can you... You can imagine the
throng of the people,

a lovely play...

When you sit here, you forget all
the war, you feel at peace,

rest, you know.

Something in your heart
says, "Don't worry.

"The world will go smoothly."

Things will carry on.
Carry on, yeah.

Not surprisingly, Leptis Magna
doesn't get many foreign visitors.

And there's no real staff
here looking after it.

Islamic State are notorious
for destroying ancient sites

in Iraq and Syria.

When they were just down the road,
Leptis faced great danger.

Up stepped the Libyan equivalent
of the neighbourhood watch,

with assault rifles.

How old are you? 25.

You're 25-years-old.

You could have died
protecting Leptis Magna.

Yes.

Is it a site worth dying for?

Yes, yes.

You know, some people will say,
"Why risk your life for stones?"

What these old stones have seen,
and what this country

has been through recently...

..but the locals here
protected this place,

for themselves,
for the country, for the world.

Two hours' drive west along the Med,
I've reached Libya's capital.

It might look stable, but Tripoli
itself has seen heavy fighting.

Some of the armed militias in Libya
have established lucrative people

trafficking operations,
smuggling refugees and migrants.

Across Libya, estimates suggest
there could be 700,000 migrants,

or even double that,
many of them hoping for a chance

to cross the Med to Europe.

What we know is that there
are thousands of migrants

and refugees who are being held
in detention centres here in Libya.

In some of the detention centres,
people are being kept

in absolutely appalling conditions.

Large numbers of migrants
have endured terrible suffering

at the hands of gangs in Libya.

Kidnap, ransom, torture.

Even an ancient evil,

the auctioning of African migrants
as slaves in open-air slave markets.

I went to a discreet location
to meet a young man,

Abdul Latif, whose family originally
fled from war-torn Darfur

in Sudan.

So, you were captured.

Was it a militia or
a government force?

I mean, my God, what
you've been through,

you think you're going to make
it to Europe and Libyan pirates,

effectively, capture
you and bring you back to shore.

How on Earth did you feel?

Seven people died in front of you?

It sounds like slavery.

It was awful to hear.

Some estimates suggest
there could be hundreds of detention

centres around Libya,
holding possibly tens of thousands

of migrants and refugees.

Some of the detention sites were set
up to be slave camps,

or centres for kidnap,
holding and ransoming migrants.

We were supposed to be visiting
a detention centre in Tripoli,

apparently one of the better ones,
run by what passes for a government

in this part of the country.

I think hold the camera down.

He says that is not allowed,
no access.

You have a look on your face of,
"This is just how it is."

There's no discussion, no...

Last time I brought the paper back,
you know, I get everything,

and at the end he says no.

It's a bit gutting that we can't
get in to talk to them.

We've got the permits. But we're not
being allowed in.

In this detention centre are scores
of migrants and refugees

from Sub-Saharan Africa,
who are no doubt being held

in very difficult conditions, with
their hopes and their dreams sunk,

perhaps, once already in the Med
when they've been caught

trying to leave to get to Europe.

Since I visited, there
has been more fighting in Libya.

Stability for all and security
for impoverished migrants

in the country looks
a long way away.

My time in Libya was up.

Tunisia is the smallest country
on Africa's Mediterranean coast.

I headed to the desert,
just inland from the Med.

Tunisia's southern desert close
to the border with Libya is well

off the beaten track.

Oh, wow, look at that!

So, that pick-up has got, well,
dozens of jerry cans on the back.

And given how far the vehicle
is weighed down, how low it is,

I'd say they're looking pretty full.

Look, another one!

People are driving around with
hundreds and hundreds of gallons

of petrol in the back, look!

I think we're just stopping
to get some fuel as well.

There's a roaring trade
here in cheap petrol smuggled

across the border from Libya.

The blokes here are very insistent
that we don't show their faces.

I think we probably
need to do what they say.

It's very simple.

We pushed on deeper into the desert.

This looks otherworldly, doesn't it?

In a galaxy far, far away.

My guide in Tunisia, Shelby Ben
Brahim, was taking me to a slightly

more familiar corner of the country.

This is...
This is Luke Skywalker's home!

Yeah!

This is one of the Star Wars sites.

Look at this!

Hollywood control panel.

Hollywood's finest
set dressing here.

There's something a little bit
sad about this place, actually.

I would have thought
this was a sacred place

of pilgrimage for Star Wars fans -

hundreds of millions
of them that they are.

But visitor numbers to Tunisia
have plummeted since two deadly

terror attacks in 2015,
in which 59 tourists were killed -

a human tragedy that also
had a huge economic impact.

Apparently they used to get 250-300
visitors for lunch alone

every day here.

Now it's mainly just a few
Tunisians who come here.

It's hard for tourist sites
in this country to survive

without people coming from abroad.

It's a long way from Hollywood,
but the Star Wars set designers

didn't have to do a lot of work
to create Luke Skywalker's home.

They used centuries-old cave
dwellings belonging to one

of North Africa's ancient cultures.

Flipping heck!

This village is unbelievable.

I was arriving in an ancient
settlement called Chenini.

THEY SPEAK LOCAL LANGUAGE

The Amazigh, better
known as the Berbers,

became a minority when Arabs
from the Middle East spread out

across Mediterranean North Africa.

But there are still some who carve
out a traditional Berber livelihood.

Bloody hell.

It's a giant hamster
on a wheel, isn't it?

Poor thing.

The camel does get
released and rested,

but it's still horrific work.

Amor Maseroui is still crushing

olives into a paste using the same
method

as his ancestors.

Goodness me! So what are you doing?

So it squashes down the paste under
here,

and then what comes out?

Look at that!

And that is a pure,
traditional olive oil.

Do you know how long your ancestors
have been doing it this way?

That's a hell of
a tradition, isn't it?

Where are you taking us?

Are all the buildings dilapidated,
or are people still living in them?

The Berbers consider themselves

an oppressed minority across North
Africa,

and many of their villages
are struggling to survive.

Amor has a plan for Chenini.

He wants to attract more visitors
to this beautiful village.

They could stay in some

of the traditional Berber homes
he's building - by hand.

Which is yours here?

Flipping heck!

Have you cut into
the rock here by hand?

You've carved and hacked
your way in here.

So you've got to take out
all of this bedrock here?

Do you think it's in your blood

that you know how to work
the rock here?

Come on then, boss.

There's a crack!

I mean, there is something quite
brilliant about this.

Oh, we're going to do
the big bit now. Look at this!

Come on! Yes!

HE LAUGHS

Channel those ancestors, mate.

I would never have thought
that was possible.

Look at that.

Amor.

Well done, mate.

You really know your rock.

I am truly honoured.
I'm truly honoured. Thank you, mate.

Good luck with this, all right?

Many of the Amazigh
are having a tough time in Tunisia,

but so is almost everyone.

Unemployment is through the roof,
and the desert in particular

is a hard place to make a living.

In the hunt for work,
growing numbers of people

are migrating out of Tunisia's
interior and moving to communities

on the Mediterranean coast.

I headed to the Kerkennah Islands,
just off the mainland.

We've just arrived.
It's very flat, but the sun is out.

It almost looks a bit tropical here.

The big business here
has long been fishing.

Most of Kerkennah's population
of 15,000 people rely on the sea

for their livelihoods.

THEY SPEAK THEIR OWN LANGUAGE

Simon. Assalaamu Alaikum.

We joined fisherman Hamadi Souissi,
his son Yusum, and their small crew

as they headed out to sea
to check their nets.

All right - I need to know,
are you the captain of this boat?

HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

That is the captain!

You're the captain of the boat?

I'm honoured to meet you.

What are we going out for?
What are we fishing for?

How long is the line?

600 metres! Flipping heck!

These are tiny fish, aren't they?

Is this what you were
hoping to catch?

Over the past 50 years,
fish across much of

the Mediterranean
have been targeted,

hunted - in many cases,
almost wiped out by more than

80,000 fishing boats.

Some fish face extinction.

I suppose the final proof
about how bad the situation is

is that so many of the fishing boats
here are just in the harbour,

because there's no point in them
going out to sea, because there's no

fish to catch.

There's no fish,
there's few other jobs,

and not much hope
of things changing.

The Tunisian government's
promised life will improve,

but many are voting with their feet.

A growing number are leaving
the shores of North Africa

for Europe, often choosing
Kerkennah as their way out.

And are fishermen
from here being tempted

to take them?

So it feels like there are quite
a lot of forces that are driving

fishermen into the arms
of the smugglers,

to become smugglers themselves.

Quick!

Next day, we caught the train
further along the coast.

For all its problems,
Tunisia is more democratic

and had been more welcoming
than many other countries

along the North African coast.

It's almost impossible to film
freely in Egypt or Algeria.

Tunisia is 96 miles in an overnight
ferry journey from my next

destination - Sicily.

How memorable is this to do -

to go from the south to the north,

across the Mediterranean
from North Africa to Europe.

The promised land for many people.

Memorable, but on a wet Wednesday,
not the most exotic leg

of my Mediterranean travels.

So it's 12.10am,
and apparently the ship

is going to set sail at about 5am.

Hopefully, I will be fast asleep.

Bed, I think.

Night, all.

It's interesting, actually,
to think what the Mediterranean

means to people today.

A place for holidays
for many, of course.

A place to fish, to drill, to mine.

But still, ultimately,
it is an enormous divide -

a great moat between the poorest
continent on Earth,

Africa, and Europe,
one of the richest.

Europe, of course,
now has a very tricky relationship

with migration, and with people
coming across the water from Africa.

But it's always been happy
to cherry-pick migrants to cross

the Med and do the jobs Europeans
don't want to do.

Italy offers 3,000 permits a year
to seasonal workers from Tunisia,

who are brought in mainly to pick
fruit,

usually on desperately low wages.

Some of them were
travelling on our ferry.

Without a work permit,
very few migrants from the rest

of Africa ever have a chance
of crossing the Med legally.

So, obviously, given the desire
of millions of people to come

across the Mediterranean
to Italy and Europe,

they have lots of cases here of
people stowing away on vehicles

or people actively being smuggled.

From a high point,
when hundreds of thousands

of migrants were crossing
the Med each year,

numbers have fallen dramatically.

The European Union has been
pressuring and paying African states

to secure their borders.

But still every year,
thousands of men, women and children

die trying to make the crossing.

Sicily is no stranger
to travellers and new arrivals.

It's known as the jewel
of the Mediterranean.

Oh!

So this is a mosque
that was turned into a church.

Evidence, perhaps,
of the different cultures

and civilisations that
have been here on Sicily.

The Greeks, the Romans,
Muslim Arabs, Africans,

the Normans, the Spanish -

they have all been
here on the island.

That's the story of the
Mediterranean, really, isn't it?

I think there are very few other
places on the planet where you get

quite so much...so many different
cultures mixing, mingling,

in such a tight space.

Italy is one of the major arrival
countries for migrants

crossing the sea.

Migration has caused
political convulsions here.

In 2018, Italians elected
a right-wing populist party

that said it would deport
500,000 illegal migrants.

I went to meet social
worker Ramzi Harabi.

Buon giorno. Ramzi? Hi. Hello,
Ramzi. How are you?

Simon. Nice to see you. How are you?
I'm fine, thank you. How are you?

Thank you very much.

Ramzi, who himself arrived
as a migrant from Tunisia,

is president of the local
immigrants' council.

He's an outspoken character,
and he wanted to explain some

of the realities of migration.

So, in this building here... Yeah.

..there are two protected
houses for migrants... Right.

..with a lot of problems,
of course, because many

of the neighbourhood are not happy.

So, one of the biggest
problems in this building

is this little lift here. Right.

Because normally,
people don't want to mix.

Especially the old ladies, even if
they live on the seventh floor,

and they see two migrants,
they will walk or wait!

The Italian government pays
for this apartment to house migrants

believed to be under 18 who've
made it to Europe alone.

Oh!

Buon giorno, Smyla!

How are you?

Go wash your face and join us, OK?

He's Sagzes, comes from Nigeria.

Please, music off, music off!

Thank you! Sweet boy, thank you.

So there's the kitchen,
where the guys cook.

Off-camera, there were
some older young men,

perhaps trying their luck,
claiming to be juveniles.

But most looked like young lads.

Those judged to be unaccompanied
children can stay here in the flat

until they turn 18.

Tell me what you're doing.

You're cooking beans. OK.

By the way, most of the migrants
complain about the pasta!

Hey, listen. This is going
to be a problem for you in Italy,

I tell you!

Some here were from Nigeria,
others from Gambia,

Burkina Faso, even Bangladesh.

They've crossed deserts -
endured terrible suffering

in places like Libya.

Ramzi wanted me to understand
one of the reasons

behind their journeys.

So, you are the first sacrifice.

You come first, and you make
everybody else come safer.

Bravo.

Poverty can drive desperation.

Relatives of child migrants can send
them unaccompanied on a dangerous

journey, because they'll have
a better chance of claiming asylum,

and they hope they can then secure
a family right of reunification

to get relatives into the EU.

Smyla! Ear phone, please.

It's meal time. OK.

The youngsters that you see -
what would be the major factors

that have driven them
and brought them to this point?

I'm going to shock you.

Greediness. Greed?

I'm sorry, we are human.

Our first factor, instead
of thinking how I improve myself,

I look at how the other
improved himself, you know?

And I know it, as a migrant myself.

The narrative they give
is, "I'm sacrificing."

For me, it is true,
but also it is a selfish

approach to sacrifice. Yeah.

This is greediness as the motivating
factor that drives all of us.

Millions of people have had enough,
and they've heard about

this promised land called Europe and
they know it's across the desert

and then over the sea,
and they know they can potentially,

potentially they can get here.

They will not stop coming.

No, nobody can stop them.

And no rule and no regulation
would make them stop.

And around us, there is some
very efficient clearing up going on.

Yes, he's number one!

Our assistant has cleared the whole
thing! Look at that!

HE LAUGHS

Some of these lads felt they'd made
it by getting to this point.

They've risked their lives
to cross the Med.

But most of them are
from countries that are poor,

but not locked in war.

That means they'll be more likely
classed as economic migrants

than refugees, and won't necessarily
be allowed to stay.

I headed into Sicily's
beautiful interior.

Look at Mount Etna!

What a beast it is!

Europe's largest active volcano.

Sicily is picture-postcard -

a huge island, the largest
in the Mediterranean.

I was visiting a rugged and remote
region that felt a long way

from Rome and the rest of Italy.

OK, they've got it.
We're going to follow them.

My guide here, Lorenzo Tondo,
had arranged a secretive meeting

with some locals with
an extraordinary tale.

So, the Land Rover in front has got
some farmers inside.

Three sisters, who we are following
to their patch of the planet.

THEY SPEAK ITALIAN

Mariana, Ina and Irene's
family has been farming wheat

and hay on these highlands
for generations.

So your land extends how far?

So you've got quite a large,

beautiful patch of land
here, haven't you?

The sisters own a farm
that can produce almost 40 tonnes

of grain and several tonnes of hay,

and has an annual income
of more than L30,000.

What's happened here?

Are we being press-ganged here?

Come on, we are happy to help!

It's wet, that's why it's so heavy.
I know.

Oh, no!

ALL: OK!

Grazie, grazie! Mwah! Grazie, Simon.

Grazie!

It's a tough but
idyllic life up here.

But recently, the sisters have come
under pressure from an enemy

Italians thought
had been largely defeated.

They poisoned your dogs?

When you say "they" are doing
classic intimidation,

who is "they"?

Many people are saying
the Sicilian Mafia has been beaten,

has been destroyed.

On my journey around the Med,
I'd already discovered other Italian

mafias wielding huge power.

But the Sicilian Mafia, the Cosa
Nostra, has taken a hammering

in recent years,
with bosses imprisoned

and drug networks disrupted.

However, the Mafia's retreated
to its rural heartland,

and is using extortion
and intimidation

to grab valuable land.

The sisters are refusing to budge,

defiantly rebuilding
their perimeter fence.

You're heroes. Keep fighting.

You're Italian heroes, you really
are.

Woo!

The Mafia here's trying to take
advantage of a region

that's in decline.

Sicily's rural population
has been falling for decades.

Sicily, like the rest of Italy,
is of course home to thousands

and thousands of gorgeous
hilltop villages

that feature in photographic books
and tourist brochures,

but many of them have fallen
on very hard times.

Lorenzo took me to one of the most
spectacular villages in the whole

of Sicily, Sutera.

Hey!

Lorenzo knows Sutera well.

He has family here.

Oh, wow! It's lovely.

Sutera was elected one of the most
beautiful villages in Italy.

But...

Here there is kind
of a problem, right?

It's just empty houses everywhere.

That's what we're talking about.
Houses, just left like that.

It looks as though it's been
empty for a long time.

If we look at just here,
every window is shuttered. Yes.

Then there's an abandoned
building beyond it.

It's sad, isn't it? Yes.

So what happened?

There are not many
job opportunities.

There are no big major
industrial cities around.

And obviously, there is no job.

So...

And the people who are moving,
they are going really far away

from here. They're not
going to Palermo or to Catania,

which is still in Sicily.

They are going to London,
they're going to Berlin.

So they're never
going to come back.

In just one generation,
the population of Sutera has fallen

by two-thirds.

So there are some people
still living here,

and there's also some new arrivals.

Sutera has become home to 50
or so migrants and refugees

who've been placed here
by the Italian government.

Among those who've made this dying
village their new home

are Margaret and Grace.

How did you come to be here?

You made it across the sea?

What did you feel when
you first came to Sutera?

I thought maybe this place
is a dead zone, you know?

But living in it - wow,
I really love this place!

Aw!

I love Sutera. I love living here,
because they are good people.

So, anyone that comes to Sutera
will love to stay in Sutera.

How's your Italian?

Aw...!
THEY LAUGH

Not so good, you know, not that
perfect, you know.

But you're learning? Yeah!
Yeah, I'm a fast learner.

We travelled in North Africa... OK.

..and people there talked about this
idea of the European dream.

Now you're here, do you feel
you have found some version?

Yes, in Sutera, yes, I found it
here.

I completely understand
the desire of individuals

for a better, safer life,

but only small numbers
of those fleeing poverty

and persecution make it to Europe.

Migration of those few isn't
a solution for the difficult lives

of the millions left behind.

Migrants could breathe new life into
some of Italy's dying communities.

But will they be able to find work,
integrate, and be welcome

in the long term?
It's all far from certain.

The migration story is one
of the biggest issues of our times.

And I don't think there
are easy answers to it.

I don't think there
is an easy solution.

I really do think it's going to get
more significant as many more set

out across the sea,
driven by poverty,

our changing climate, and conflict.

On the final leg of my journey...

Oh, my God!

..I'll witness how cheap
food and holidays are

transforming the Med...

It's the Manhattan of Spain!

..and I head to the opulent
Cote d'Azur.

What's that smell?

Dirty rotten money!