Original subtitles

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!