Thank you for downloading this podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Noel L. Magafi.

Over a year ago, we heard about the story of Syrian refugees that were giving up on the European

Dream and returning home to war-torn Syria. So we decided to go to

Germany to meet a few of these people and to follow them on their journey.

You're listening to a video posted on the internet by a Syrian refugee. He's filming as dozens of Syrians are caught by Greek police on the border with Turkey.

One by one, the police begin to arrest them.

Men, women and children, together with all their belongings the Syrians are risking

everything for a new life. It sounds like a familiar story but these people don't

want to enter Europe they want to leave it.

Welcome to assignment on the BBC World Service I'm Noeli. This week I'm joining the increasing numbers of Syrian

refugees who are turning their backs on Europe and risking their lives to smuggle

themselves home. I want to find out why anybody would want to

return to a war zone. The first up on my journey is Hallebrun in Barton-Wutenburg, southern Germany.

A far cry from the war in Syria, this largely rural state is now home to one of the biggest refugee populations in the country.

In the past few years around 150,000 people have sought asylum here. I'm walking around the streets of Hillbruen

and it's really easy to see the changing population around here.

Just in front of me are two very cute little Syrian girls dressed in matching pink dresses

and they're standing beside their mother waiting to catch the tram which runs through the center of the city.

I'm here to meet a small but growing number of

refugees who have chosen to return to a life of danger over safety here in Europe. This is a 27 year old Zakaria.

With a neatly, a short and trimmed beard,

...