—With Far-Right Nationalism on the Rise, FRONTLINE Goes Inside the Global Refugee Crisis—
Over one-and-a-half million refugees and migrants have smuggled themselves to the West since 2015, fleeing countries besieged by violence and poverty in search of safety and a better life.
But as FRONTLINE “Exodus: The Journey Continues” explores, the countries they dreamed of reaching have changed.
On Jan. 23, 2018 FRONTLINE will premiere this two-hour documentary telling the intimate, firsthand stories of refugees and migrants caught in Europe’s tightened borders, and facing heightened nationalism and rising anti-immigrant sentiment.
“When we were back home, we'd talk about how peaceful and wonderful it would be in Europe, and that we'd live happily ever after,” says a young man named Azizzulah, who fled Afghanistan after his brother — who worked as a translator for the U.S. Army — was killed in a bombing that also killed four American soldiers. “But had I known that the way would be so difficult, I would have never come.”
The film is a stunning sequel to FRONTLINE’s 2016 documentary “Exodus,” which is being honored with a Columbia-duPont Award for excellence in journalism on January 16.
As the global migration and refugee crisis continues and countries become less welcoming to those seeking refuge, the documentary is an eye-opening look at the evolving crisis that draws on footage filmed by the refugees themselves.
In “Exodus: The Journey Continues,” you’ll meet Tamir, an Iraqi man who worked as a translator for the U.S. Army.
He and his wife are now living in Nebraska and working at McDonalds — but following President Trump’s travel ban, the rest of his family is in limbo:
“We make our family to be targets for the terrorist groups, just because we work with the U.S.,” he says, adding that yet, “my family is living in a tent in Iraq.”
You’ll meet Nazifa, who fled Afghanistan, and whose two young children have spent their entire lives in camps:
“The best part of someone's life is their childhood, but right now my children are in a cage,” she says, adding, “I will not give up until I make a safe home for my children.”
“Exodus: The Journey Continues” also introduces Moussa, a young economic migrant who has traveled 2,600 miles from Guinea to Morocco, and is preparing to storm a barbed wire fence and cross into Spain with the help of a shadowy group that calls itself “The Government.”
“Real life is found in Europe. A life where you can be free, where you can live in peace, everything is in Europe,” Moussa says.
Follow Their Journeys:
And finally, the film follows up with several characters from the 2016 “Exodus” documentary – including Sadiq, a young man from Afghanistan seeking asylum in Finland; and Isra’a, a young girl who with her family fled Syria and were let in to Germany before Europe’s borders began to tighten.
“Our story is a tragedy for all Syrians. Blood on the ground and innocent people dying. I don’t wish this to happen to any human on this earth,” says Isra’a’s father, Tarek, adding, “We were the lucky ones.”
Special Feature: Anatomy of an Exodus
How Europe's refugee and migrant crisis unfolded. By Dan Nolan and Priyanka Boghani (2016)
Harrowing and profound, “Exodus: The Journey Continues” is an unforgettable window into the human stories of the evolving refugee crisis.
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CREDITS:
A Keo Films production for WGBH/FRONTLINE and BBC. The director is James Bluemel. The senior producer is Dan Edge. The executive producers for Keo Films are Will Anderson and Andrew Palmer. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
