Special report: Europe’s frontline against illegal migration
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 18 November 2024
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Nick joins Amol from the border between Bulgaria and Turkey, which is also the border between the EU and rest of the world. What happens here has a direct impact on what happens in the English Channel, so in this special episode he reports on the migration routes into Europe - where people are coming from, why they're coming and what, if anything, can be done to stop the people smugglers.
Along the way he meets people hoping to make the crossing into Europe and some who ultimately want to come to the UK. He also hears how people smugglers use TikTok to advertise their offers and what is being done to stop people crossing the border illegally.
If you have a question for Nick about his reporting you can send them to us via Whatsapp on +44 330 123 4346 or email us Today@bbc.co.uk and he’ll answer them on an episode later this week.
The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson who are both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.
To get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories and insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme make sure you subscribe on BBC Sounds. That way you’ll get an alert every time we release a new episode, and you won’t miss our extra bonus episodes either.
The senior producer is Lewis Vickers, the producers are Jade Bogart-Preleur, Oscar Pearson and Nadia Gyane. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Nicola Brough and Pete Wise.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We get it. Life is busy. You want to keep up with the news, but there's just too much going on. |
| 0:06.9 | Which is where Newscast comes in. We do the work, and when you're ready to dig deeper into the day's news, you just pop us into your ears. |
| 0:14.8 | It does mean we have to put in the hard work, though. |
| 0:17.5 | Listen to Newscast every day on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:24.8 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:30.4 | Well, given Nick's reporting really from across the whole of Europe on migration this week, |
| 0:35.2 | as he has done in the past, we thought it made sense for a bit of context, a bit of background, |
| 0:38.2 | for you to hear his reporting from Bulgaria and Istanbul. So this is a special edition of this podcast with that reporting. Let's do it. |
| 0:58.5 | Okay, Nick, it's Monday morning. |
| 1:03.6 | You've just come off there after presenting the Today program from the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. |
| 1:08.6 | Describe exactly where you are and what were those strange sounds that I could hear when we were live on air? |
| 1:12.6 | I mean, it was definitely some form of animal and there's a crackling wood, I think. Yes, I've never presented the programme only where quite like this, Amal. |
| 1:15.6 | We're in a tiny little farming village, almost deserted. |
| 1:19.6 | There are some elderly farmers who still live in this village called Stiet, which means shield, |
| 1:24.6 | and it's named that way because it is on the border. |
| 1:28.1 | This was a place of conflict for centuries. |
| 1:29.9 | It is now the front line of the battle in Europe to stop people crossing from Turkey, |
| 1:38.2 | migrants crossing from Turkey to make their journey into the EU. |
| 1:42.2 | So a couple of hundred metres from where I'm broadcasting is a rather |
| 1:45.7 | terrifying fence of razor wire, which is watched by cameras, by drones, and by passing patrol cars, |
| 1:53.5 | one of which popped in to see us while we're on air to check how we were behaving and that |
| 1:58.5 | we didn't go and take photographs of the border. But yes, the crackling you heard was absolutely necessary. |
... |
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