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| Children being rescued from boat by Italian navy | Music | 00:00 |
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| MCNEILL: The numbers are staggering. Well over 10,000 people a month fleeing war in the Middle East or economic despair in Africa - taking to boats and heading to Europe. Some will die, but many will be rescued, most likely by the Italian Navy. |
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| Refugee man | REFUGEE: The feeling is like being reborn again... so close to death. | 00:28 |
| Refugees applaud navy | Music | 00:33 |
| Refugees on boat | MCNEILL: Tonight, inside Italy's "Operation Mare Nostrum" - the search, the rescue and the big question for Europe - what happens next? | 00:38 |
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| Music | 00:48 |
| GVs Taranto |
| 00:53 |
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| MCNEILL: Summer's slowly winding to an end in the port city of Taranto, southern Italy. It's a low-key holiday spot for Italians on a budget and its backstreets and beaches give the impression of an idyllic Mediterranean getaway. | 01:04 |
| Holiday makers at beach | That is, until the ships of the Italian Navy range into view. | 01:24 |
| Naval ship carrying refugees | Music | 01:31 |
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| MCNEILL: Taranto is a major southern base for the Italian fleet and that's put it in the thick of one of the world's most dramatic and overwhelming humanitarian crises. | 01:42 |
| Refugees disembark | Back in port this morning is the San Giusto. It's brought to shore 1700 people who've been plucked from over-crowded boats in the middle of the Mediterranean, fleeing from Africa and the Middle East. CAPTAIN MARTESSI: "It's by far | 01:55 |
| Captain Martessi | the most we've carried and it's a number that we have never dealt with in the past". | 02:10 |
| Refugees | Music | 02:16 |
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| MCNEILL: The Italians don't refer to them as asylum seekers or refugees or even economic migrants. They simply call them the "migranti". | 02:19 |
| Syrian woman refugee | FEMALE SYRIAN REFUGEE: "When we saw the ship we were so grateful for the help from the Italians. I want to say thanks because they really helped. Also, on board the ship they were very kind to us and gave us everything we needed". | 02:30 |
| Male refugee | MALE REFUGEE: "If the Italian helicopters hadn't come we would have died". | 02:41 |
| Refugees leave boat | MCNEILL: After undergoing health checks, these people will be bussed off to different processing centres all around the country. | 02:48 |
| Bus carrying refugees |
| 02:56 |
| Processing centre | But some are sent here, down the road from the wharf and just a few hours after coming ashore, this family is being allowed to walk out of this facility right in front of the local police. | 03:00 |
| Mohammed on bus | "Did you think it would be easy to leave the processing centre? Like you're just allowed to walk out of the centre?" MOHAMMED: "Yeah it's simple. They are so friendly. They don't try to keep us inside. They give us the freedom to stay with them or leave". | 03:20 |
| Mohammed gets off bus | MCNEILL: Mohammed and his family are from Idlib in Syria, a town devastated by the civil war. | 03:35 |
| Mohammed and family walk along street | "And what are you guys doing now? What's your plan?" MOHAMMED: "We're trying to find | 03:46 |
| Mohammed and family | a clothes store and then heading to Milano and then find another place, another country maybe. Sweden or Netherlands or Germany. We don't know til now. Can't decide". | 03:51 |
| Family sit on bench | Music | 04:03 |
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| MCNEILL: As Mohammed and his family plan the next stage of their journey, | 04:05 |
| San Giusto in dock | the San Giusto is being readied to head out again. | 04:13 |
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| Music | 04:16 |
| Loading ship | MCNEILL: So far this year the Italians have led the rescue of about 140,000 people fleeing turmoil in places like Syria and Eritrea. | 04:19 |
| Preparing ship for departure | Music | 04:30 |
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| MCNEILL: But thousands more are expected to risk the crossing before winter seas make it too dangerous. | 04:34 |
| McNeill on deck | We've been invited aboard and inside their operation. | 04:42 |
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| Music | 04:47 |
| San Giusto | MCNEILL: The San Giusto is an amphibious assault carrier, designed to transport military vehicles and armoury - not thousands of passengers. | 04:50 |
| Captain Martessi on bridge | CAPTAIN MARTESSI: "So what's the weather doing?" SAILOR: "The clouds are rolling in, but the seas are okay". MCNEILL: Captain Mario Martessi | 05:01 |
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| and his 300 crew have had to adapt quickly to the demands of this humanitarian mission. | 05:12 |
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| CAPTAIN MARTESSI: "We're definitely heading for the scene of action | 05:18 |
| Captain Martessi | and as we speak, things are going on and we're just waiting for orders to get there and try to do our job". | 05:22 |
| On board San Giusto | Music | 05:31 |
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| MCNEILL: On our way south we call by the Italian island of Lampedusa. | 05:37 |
| Lampedusa | Music | 05:41 |
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| MCNEILL: A year ago, a boat packed with as many as 500 Eritreans, capsized within a couple of hundred metres of the shore here. | 05:45 |
| Stills. Rescue of Eritreans from water | Music | 05:52 |
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| MCNEILL: More than 350 people drowned. In response to the public outcry, the government launched Operation Mare Nostrum - meaning "our sea" - just a few weeks later in order to prevent further tragedies. | 05:58 |
| On board San Giusto | A day's sailing further south and we're in international waters, 80 nautical miles off Libya and what's known as the "hot zone". | 06:21 |
| Crew monitoring satellite feeds | Crew monitor satellite feeds and drones scanning for boats in distress. The search and rescue area extends 43,000 square kilometres. | 06:29 |
| Crew prepare supplies for refugees | All over the San Giusto preparations intensify as the crew braces for the arrival of hundreds of migranti. | 06:44 |
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| Sergeant Major Francesco Cuonzo has served in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Here, he's in charge of security and managing the people who are rescued. | 07:01 |
| Cuonzo preparing area for refugees | SERGEANT MAJOR FRANCESCO CUONZO: "We really have 2 or 3 days of close personal contact with them, and you really understand their need to escape from wars, danger - especially the children. | 07:14 |
| Cuonzo | In their eyes you see the joy - that they have arrived in a peaceful place where they don't have to hear the sounds of gunfire, bombs, or airplanes above their head." | 07:27 |
| Cuonzo exercising | Music | 07:40 |
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| MCNEILL: The Navy's rescue policy is costing more than 13 million dollars a month at a time when the economy is doing badly. | 07:48 |
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| Music | 07:56 |
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| SERGEANT MAJOR FRANCESCO CUONZO: "It's difficult because in Italy not everybody is in favour of this mission because perhaps they don't understand specifically what we are doing. | 07:59 |
| Cuonzo | I tell them that our ancestors also escaped when there was war, looking for their fortunes in America and other places, in Australia, in Switzerland, and other places. When there is no war, it gives you hope of a better future". | 08:10 |
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| 08:27 |
| Rizzi demonstrates how to put on life jacket | FIRST SEAMAN SAVERIO RIZZI: "Put the zipper on and attach the velcro. Nothing should be loose". MCNEILL: First Seaman Saverio Rizzi has a senior operational role. | 08:30 |
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| FIRST SEAMAN SAVERIO RIZZI: "So from the time I was little, I always had this passion and desire to work at sea. It's something that was born inside me. Something my parents passed on to me". | 08:46 |
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| MCNEILL: Once the call for help comes through, Saverio will deploy the San Giusto's four rescue boats and their emergency teams. | 08:57 |
| Rizzi | FIRST SEAMAN SAVERIO RIZZI: "Mare Nostrum, in my personal opinion, is a way to help a lot of people - and I myself to do this with all my heart. I really want to give my heart and soul to this". | 09:08 |
| Dr Songa in infirmary | MCNEILL: It's not just sailors and marines who are part of this massive exercise - intensive care specialist Dr Valeria Songa came down from Milan on her holidays to volunteer. She will help run the infirmary and do basic medical checks on | 09:24 |
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| all the people rescued. DR VALERIA SONGA: "It's already very hot here. When all of the refugees and patients come we will open up the air vents. | 09:44 |
| Dr Songa | We will have to wear our biological suits so it will get even hotter for us, but we have to protect ourselves from infections. So we will be working in a very stressful situation from a physical point of view". | 09:53 |
| Seamen suit up |
| 10:08 |
| Rizzi on two way | FIRST SEAMAN SAVERIO RIZZI: "Loading dock to the bridge. Request permission to lower the dock!" | 10:20 |
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| MCNEILL: Suddenly it's on. | 10:25 |
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| Music | 10:27 |
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| FIRST SEAMAN SAVERIO RIZZI: We have received news of a vessel, probably an inflatable dinghy, | 10:30 |
| Rizzi | with about 100 people on board. We have been given the order to put our rescue boats to sea and go and save them". | 10:36 |
| Getting ready to board rescue boat | Music | 10:46 |
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| MCNEILL: "Now we have to wear these special suits. | 10:53 |
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| The Italian Navy is really quite worried about the Ebola threat from Africa. We don't know where these people are from on this boat so we're all suited up and we're going to be heading out in a moment and hopefully on our way there soon". | 10:54 |
| On rescue boat | Music | 11:04 |
| Approaching refugees on inflatable boat | SAILOR #1: [yelling across to boat] "Hey do you have kids? Babies? Do you have babies? No? Do you have women? GROUP: "No". SAILOR #1: "Anybody sick?" GROUP: "Yes". SAILOR #1: "All right, all right. And how many are you?" GROUP: One hundred and three. | 11:18 |
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| SAILOR #1: "I have been asking you to sit down. I see many people still standing. So please, please, please come on. Come on now". | 11:44 |
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| SAILOR #2: "There are life vests for everybody - we will pass them to the people in the middle". | 11:56 |
| Transfer of refugees to navy vessel | MCNEILL: The transfer from one boat to another has to be done very carefully before anyone panics. Experience tells the Italians that many of these guys can't swim. | 12:01 |
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| "There's a bit of panicking about life jackets. | 12:26 |
| McNeill to camera | So they're just trying to make sure everyone on the ship doesn't panic in case it topples over. There are so many people on this little rubber dinghy". | 12:28 |
| Transfer of refugees to navy vessel/Giving out life jackets |
| 12:37 |
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| [to man in boat] "How long were you in the boat?" REFUGEE: "Two days". | 12:45 |
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| MCNEILL: "How are you feeling now?" REFUGEE: "Well, better... hope... hope. Yeah, thanking God". | 12:51 |
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| Music | 13:00 |
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| MCNEILL: So far this year, more than 3000 people have died trying to make this journey. | 13:08 |
| Refugees on naval boat | Music | 13:14 |
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| MCNEILL: But for these young men, from a mix of war torn and poverty stricken countries, the risk has paid off. | 13:24 |
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| Music | 13:30 |
| Lamin | MCNEILL: Twenty two year old Lamin is from Gambia. LAMIN: "So many dreams, I cannot tell you". MCNEILL: "And you think you're going to find your dreams in Europe?" LAMIN: "For sure. Yeah". | 13:38 |
| Vessel with refugees returning to San Giusto | Music | 13:51 |
| Medical team check refugees | MCNEILL: It all happened so quickly - one minute they're floating in the middle of the sea, the next Dr Valeria and her colleagues are making sure they're okay. Meanwhile, Francesco and his marine squad are sorting out where everyone will go. | 14:16 |
| Cuonzo on two way | SERGEANT MAJOR FRANCESCO CUONZO: "Fabrizzio, it's Scorpio". FABRIZZIO: "Yes, go ahead". | 14:37 |
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| SERGEANT MAJOR FRANCESCO CUONZO: "As soon as you finish at that station send me the guests that you've already processed". | 14:41 |
| Medical team check refugees | MCNEILL: Since Operation Mare Nostrum started, the number of arrivals by boat has more than tripled. Some accuse the Italians of encouraging more people to take the dangerous journey. | 14:52 |
| Foffi | Vice Admiral Filippo Foffi is the Commander of the Italian fleet. He says the numbers are up due to increasing world conflict. | 15:06 |
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| VICE ADMIRAL FILIPPO FOFFI: "There's a need to intervene at the origins of the problem, before they take this horrible journey. Particularly for us, a country that needs help is Libya. | 15:15 |
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| We have the duty in these cases when we're at sea, to intervene to save human life.
| 15:25 |
| Medical team on board ship | If we are not at sea we can't see what happens. We can close our eyes, and turn off the lights, and then there's no need to turn back the boats because they will die". | 15:32 |
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| MCNEILL: Even as the Africans are being processed, another alert comes through. | 15:49 |
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| "We've just heard the news that less than three hours since the last rescue, | 15:54 |
| McNeill to camera | another 220 people have been picked up, this time they were rescued by a merchant ship in the middle of the Mediterranean so now the Italian Navy's going to go out and do a transfer. | 15:57 |
| Loading deck | It's quite risky because it's dark outside now. There is around 220 people but they need to transfer from a big merchant ship onto their smaller one before they bring them back to the San Giusto". | 16:07 |
| Norwegian ship | A Norwegian supply ship came across a boatload of 230 people a couple of hours ago. | 16:25 |
| Norwegian seaman | NORWEGIAN SEAMAN #1: "We heard about a different vessel where 40 people drowned today so we are happy that everybody here got saved. Nobody got injured". | 16:32 |
| Italian seaman climbing on to ship in the dark | ITALIAN SAILOR: "Grab it, grab it, pull it up". | 16:40 |
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| MCNEILL: In the dark it's difficult to tie the vessels together. | 16:44 |
| Norwegian seaman | NORWEGIAN SEAMAN #2: There is one in a wheelchair. She is heavy but we should be able to do it". | 16:48 |
| Refugees on board Norwegian vessel | MCNEILL: We jump on board and waiting in the dark are hundreds of nervous and exhausted Syrians - men, women and children. | 16:53 |
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| NORWEGIAN SEAMAN #1: "They all come from Syria and they are escaping from the war there. When we told them that they would not go back to Libya everybody was very happy". | 17:06 |
| Transferring Syrian woman to Italian vessel | MCNEILL: Lawlessness in Libya means the people smuggling business has exploded. It's a violent place and the migranti are only too willing to pay the 1000 dollars or so to set sail. | 17:18 |
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| [to Syrian woman] "How are you?" SYRIAN WOMAN: "Thanks be to God". | 17:34 |
| Norwegian seaman passes child to Italian rescue boat |
| 17:38 |
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| NORWEGIAN SEAMAN #2: "She is very fragile. Be careful with her". NORWEGIAN SEAMAN #1: "We've been giving all of them water and talking to everybody so they feel safe | 17:45 |
| Norwegian seaman | and especially trying, giving attention to all the children because the children have to live with this for the rest of their lives so it's important that they get a good experience". | 17:54 |
| Transfer of refugees to Italian vessel
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| 18:07 |
| Ahmed | MCNEILL: [to Syrian man] "How are you feeling?" AHMED: "The feeling is like I'm reborn again. I was so close to death. And God is the first one I need to thank and you the second. Thank you for everything, from the morning til the evening". | 18:20 |
| Transferring children to Italian vessel | Music | 18:40 |
| Italian vessel pulls away/Refugees applaud | MCNEILL: As we pull away, there's a big thanks to their Norwegian rescuers. | 19:27 |
| Rizzi on dock as refugees are unloaded | FIRST SEAMAN SAVERIO RIZZI: "When you're ready let's start loading them off! Ten at a time". MCNEILL: Back at the dock, Saverio is ready to welcome them. | 19:55 |
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| FIRST SEAMAN SAVERIO RIZZI: [counting a family] "One, two, three, four, five, six. Welcome!" FATHER OF FAMILY TO CAMERA: "Peace be upon you". | 20:05 |
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| Music | 20:14 |
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| FIRST SEAMAN SAVERIO RIZZI: "Naturally when the boats arrive full of people this is something personal to me. I can feel my heart in my throat. | 20:24 |
| Rizzi | Because it's not something you see every day. So my adrenalin rises and I want to give my all to every single person that comes aboard our ship".
| 20:34 |
| Medical team check refugees/Refugees resting | MCNEILL: For these families it's been a long and uncertain journey. First fleeing war in their homeland, then dealing with people smuggling gangs in Libya to the very dangerous boat trip. But finally, they've reached safety. | 20:55 |
| Sunrise |
| 21:33 |
| Ship kitchen | The next morning, the kitchen is busy. | 21:41 |
| Handing out food | Down below, it's everyone's first proper meal for more than 36 hours. The young man we spoke to last night, Ahmed is busy helping the marines. | 21:50 |
| Ahmed helping to hand out food | AHMED: "The little ones each have one. Each person has one". | 22:09 |
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| MCNEILL: The 22 year old is from Aleppo in Syria's north, he says the war at home left him with only three options in life. | 22:16 |
| Ahmed | AHMED: "First option, it's kill... kill people. It's easier. When you have this option, everyone will help you to kill people. Or being killed. It's even easier than option one - because in every street in Syria there are snipers, there is bombings. | 22:25 |
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| And option three that we are taking is to leave the country - and this is the most hurtful choice". | 22:49 |
| Boat heading out | Music | 22:57 |
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| MCNEILL: Word has come through that another Italian vessel, a navy frigate, has rescued 300 more men. By the time they're transferred aboard, there'll be more than 800 people in this very hot, very crowded garage. | 23:09 |
| Ahmed | AHMED: "When more people come, it's very hard to be here, but we are happy because another boat has been saved". | 23:29 |
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| Music | 23:36 |
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| MCNEILL: For each life the Italians save, a new beginning awaits in Europe. | 23:38 |
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| Music | 23:42 |
| Dr Songa | DR VALERIA SONGA: "The first time I saw these families with children I wanted to cry. The most important thing I ask myself is what will happen to these children? Where will they go and who will host them?" | 23:45 |
| Children in loading dock | Music | 24:01 |
| Refugees | MCNEILL: EU law says refugees must seek asylum in the first country they arrive in. Some will stay for the food and shelter offered by the processing centres, while they wait for their claims to be examined. Some will live and work locally and illegally. But in reality, many of these people rescued by Italy try to leave the country as soon as they can. | 24:04 |
| Mohammed and family at Taranto railway station | And back on shore, Mohammed and his family who we met earlier are about to do just that. With little chance of finding work in Italy, they, like many others, are going to try to sneak over the Italian border to a more prosperous European country like Germany, Sweden or the Netherlands.
| 24:41 |
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| They hope their new European style clothes will help them escape the border guard's attention. They've spent all their money on the train tickets and they risk being forcibly returned to Italy. But they've got nothing to lose. | 25:04 |
| Mohammed | MOHAMMED: "I'm feeling great, it's a new beginning for my life. We're here and we're going to head to our final destination. Maybe one of the countries in Europe, and I consider that a new beginning. | 25:22 |
| Family board train | MCNEILL: [as they board the train] "Good luck". And after baring the full cost of the rescue operation for a year, without any help from the rest of Europe, Italy is pretty happy to see them go. | 25:34 |
| Train departs | Music | 25:46 |
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| VICE ADMIRAL FILIPPO FOFFI: "Perhaps the controls that are carried out to avoid these types of escapes, are not rock solid - | 25:52 |
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| but you must also think that one country alone cannot be the holding place of these never-ending arrivals". | 26:03 |
| San Giusto | Music | 26:14 |
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| MCNEILL: There are believed to be between 500 to 70,000 more people waiting in Libya to try to get to Europe. | 26:19 |
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| Mare Nostrum is scheduled to end in just a few weeks and is due to be replaced by a European border force, operating on just a third of the budget of the Italian mission. | 26:30 |
| Sunset from ship | MCNEILL: It will also not have a mandate to do search and rescue far out to sea, instead staying close to the coast. | 26:43 |
| Rizzi on two way radio/Refugees on ship | But for now, as the calls keep coming, these sailors and marines are proud to save as many as they can. | 26:52 |
| Rizzi | FIRST SEAMAN SAVERIO RIZZI: "I am a drop in the ocean. But I think my drop contributes. I do it from my heart". | 27:02 |
| Sunset from ship | Music | 27:08 |
| Super: Mohammed and his family are now in the Netherlands. |
| 27:14 |
| Ahmed and his family are now in Germany. |
| 27:19 |
| Sunset |
| 27:23 |
| Taranto |
| 27:29 |
| Credits | Reporter: Sophie McNeill Camera: David Martin, Sophie McNeill Editors: Garth Thomas, Nicholas Brenner Field producer: Giulia Sirignani Executive producer: Steve Taylor |
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| Music out: |
| 27:34 |
| Vision out: |
| 24:37 |