What happens to refugee children when their parents die? Dateline talks to migrant kids dealing with the daily struggle of survival, including two young siblings living in a derelict petrol station in Greece. They are among tens of thousands of refugee children stranded in Europe without their parents.
NAGHAM (Translation): I want to change stick.
12-year-old Nagham and her 13-year-old brother Mohamed are orphans from Syria. They last saw their father five years ago when he was kidnapped at gunpoint by a faction fighting in the war.
NAGHAM (Translation): They came and took him from our house. My mother was crying and shouting 'Don't take him!' They took him and went. I was scared that he would not come back. And this is what happened. He didn't come back.
MOHAMED (Translation): We think about whether they killed him or whether the regime took him, or whether he's still alive.
NAGHAM (Translation): I still wish he would come back.
Mohamed and Nagham come from the Syrian city of Aleppo, one of the most dangerous places in the world. They lost their mother in an air strike. Their family home was destroyed.
NAGHAM (Translation): I miss everything about my mother. My mother has been dead for three years. Everything changed and we ended up here. We've been in Greece for four months.
The children fled with their aunt and uncle to Europe. They now all live in a derelict petrol station in Northern Greece with other Syrian families. There are no showers or toilets here. Their home is a small tent.
MOHAMED (Translation): My life, my life in the tent, is full of boredom and flies. I have two pieces of bread and two croissants, two oranges and a piece of stale bread. We have the same every day.
NAGHAM (Translation): One, two, three action!
The children's journey to Europe nearly cost them their lives.
MOHAMED (Translation): The first time I saw the boat I was frightened. When we reached the middle of the sea the waves started. There was nothing we could do. The coastguard saved us. If they didn't come, we would have definitely drowned.
One million people were smuggled by boat to Greece in 2015. Children died every day. A deal between the European Union and Turkey in March this year has reduced the number crossing to a trickle. People smugglers are finding other routes into Europe, one of them is across the Turkish-Bulgarian border.
SADIE CLASBY, SCHOOL TEACHER: Well done, Mohammed.
Sadie Clasby, a 26-year-old teacher from Cambridge set up a school with her mum in a migrant camp in Bulgaria, close to the Turkish border.
SADIE CLASBY: I started it because there were no other activities for the children in the camp. Hello, Alowan, Kifat. We're the only thing that the children have here. They have no playground. Most of them have no toys. It became very apparent that a lot of them had forgotten how to play, they just weren't relaxed, and they didn't trust us.
One family's story has deeply affected Sadie.
SADIE CLASBY: Just getting some bags ready for the kids. I've got their books, I got craft activities, pencils, toys.
She still remembers the day when seven children aged five to 13 walked into her classroom. The children from two related families lost three of their parents as they were smuggled from Turkey.
SADIE CLASBY: When they first arrived in camp I watched in horror as the four oldest children hobbled down the corridor with severe frost bitten feet, one of them nearly in tears. He wanted to come and see the school but he was in so much pain he could hardly walk.
Today, Sadie is going to visit the seven children. They've recently moved to a new camp in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, after smugglers threatened the family over unpaid debts.
SADIE CLASBY: Oh, I can see them! Hello, hello. I'm so happy to see you. Hello, Mohammed.
MOHAMMED: Hello. Hello.
SADIE CLASBY: I have missed you so much. They're not just children suffering they are intelligent, funny, caring, generous, just really amazing children, how can I not care about them? Oh, you are wet! All seven children are grieving in such different ways. Thank you so much.
One of the children, Omar, who's struggled most has expressed suicidal thoughts and I think on one occasion actually tried to kill himself.
11-year-old Omar together with his two brothers and sister lost both their parents. They froze to death in February this year as they crossed the border.
OMAR (Translation): The snow fell over us. We got so wet and cold. Our clothes got wet. We urinated on ourselves to keep warm.
Omar was travelling with three cousins. Mohammed is the eldest.
MOHAMMED (Translation): We walked and walked until we saw smoke. There was a tent with two policemen inside. We went to warm ourselves up but the police searched us. They took everything from us.
In this remote region, the children claim the police offered no help and forced them back towards Turkey.
MOHAMMED (Translation): We were told “If you cross the river you will be in Turkey.” When we crossed the river they told us to turn left. We walked and walked but we did not see anything, only mountains.
OMAR (Translation): When we tried to go back we got lost.
The actions of the Bulgarian border police sparked a series of tragic events.
OMAR (Translation): My dad and uncle went to get food for us but they did not come back. We were so cold we nearly fainted. My mom was in a terrible condition. She was saying "Rekan, bring me a blanket. Bring me dates and oil."
Omar's mother later died in a hospital. It was days before the frozen bodies of Omar and Mohammed's fathers were found near the Turkish border. Prosecutors in Bulgaria, independent of the police and government are investigating the incident. The Bulgarian government says it takes allegations of mistreatment of migrants very seriously.
SADIE CLASBY: I haven't said hello to Trifa. Sorry, Trifa.
Mohammed's mother, Trifa, is the only parent to survive. Her brother Aram has come from Swansea. He has left behind his daughter and his job to help.
ARAM, UNCLE: My sister she phoned me and she said I lost my husband and my brother. Your sister-in-law, she died. I shocked when she say that, so I just come straightaway. I still can't believe that in one day they die. In the same day three people like, who's gonna believe that? Because of police, border police.
Aram says he won't leave Bulgaria unless all his nieces and nephews are allowed to join him in Britain.
ARAM: They lost everything, they don't have anything. So who care about this? They are always there on TV, all our governments in Europe. 'Oh, we are care about refugee, we are caring about the children', where? Which children do you care about then? Show me one.
MOHAMED (Translation): What are you doing?
12-year-old Nagham and her brother 13-year-old Mohamed are refugee orphans.
MOHAMED (Translation): Are you going to the camp?
NAGHAM (Translation): Let's go.
Every day they walk miles to collect food from a state-run camp.
NAGHAM (Translation): Careful.
The Greek Government is trying to move all refugees into camps. Journalists are denied access, so it is difficult to know what is going on in them. But there have been outbreaks of violence. Fearing for their safety Mohamed and Nagham's aunt and uncle moved them from this camp. Weeks ago the children witnessed a brutal fight here. People were stabbed.
MOHAMED (Translation): We left the camp because problems occurred. There was someone who caused trouble between the Arabs and Kurds.
NAGHAM (Translation): Someone ended up in hospital. I just wanted to get out.
MOHAMED (Translation): I felt that had we stayed there we would have all died. They would beat us. There were more of them, than us I was in a really bad mood and felt I could not stand life any more. I still feel the same now.
Shortly after the stabbings, they and a group of other refugee families tried to leave. They were confronted by Greek riot police. Mohamed was injured in the confrontation.
MOHAMED (Translation): They hit us and threw us on the floor. He carried on beating me and grabbed me by the neck.
Mohamed says his arm was fractured in the violence. The Greek police deny hitting him or hurting his arm.
ARAM: The old woman who lived in the shoe. There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many childrens she didn't know what to do.
In Bulgaria, Aram has some good news. The British government has agreed to grant his three nephews and niece who lost both parents, asylum.
ARAM: I wish, you know, I be strong, to be like a good father for them. So I will be spending all my life with them. Just to make them grow up to be happy and have a good futures.
SADIE CLASBY: You need to come up here actually.
But there's a major problem. Aram's sister, Trifa and her three children have had their application rejected.
SADIE CLASBY: Four of the children have been accepted with Aram, their uncle. Rekan, Omar, Rojan and Alwand who are brothers and sisters who lost both of their parents have been accepted, they're hoping to go to Swansea. And their three cousins who are here with their Mum are yet to be accepted. All of the children have lost their dads and four of them have lost their Mum as well and they have become a very close family unit. They're like brothers and sisters more than cousins now.
The family now face being split up.
SADIE CLASBY: Separation has been a big issue for all of the children. It would be awful.
Aram says he can't leave Bulgaria until the British Government gives all the family asylum.
SADIE CLASBY: Happy!
Mohamed and Nagham have now been stranded in Greece for five months.
MOHAMED (Translation): We thought we would get an education and become cultured. But instead all we find is humiliation.
Greek immigration officers have told them to leave the petrol station and return to the camp nearby.
MOHAMED (Translation): We're going to Athens to register with the humanitarian organisations.
Mohamed and Nagham's aunt and uncle don't want to go back to the camp where violence broke out.
MOHAMED (Translation): Don't cry. We'll see each other again. Over the last five years I've said a lot of goodbyes.
Mohamed and Nagham are fortunate. They have their aunt and uncle to look after them. Thousands of refugee children in Greece are completely alone. The Greek government has been severely criticised for locking up hundreds of unaccompanied children in police cells and detention centres.
FIRAZ: Neda.
NEDA CHADRY, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Hello, Firaz.
FIRAZ (Translation): How are you?
NEDA CHADRY (Translation): How are you darling?
FIRAZ (Translation): Things are okay, I’m surviving.
Neda Chadry a human rights activist from Detroit, and her husband Rafat a refugee from Syria, are trying to help a Syrian child who's being held in a detention centre.
FIRAZ (Translation): My situation is terrible now. I am sorry if I am a burden to you, I have no-one left apart from you.
Firaz's family fled war in Syria, moving to a refugee camp in Turkey. All of them wanted to reach Europe but his parents could only afford to pay for Firaz to be smuggled into Greece on his own.
RAFAT (Translation): Don't worry I have spoken to your dad. I reassured him that he shouldn't worry about you. I have told him we will come and see you. We'll do whatever possible to get you out.
FIRAZ (Translation): I can ask my dad to give you authorisation for my sponsorship.
RAFAT (Translation): We will call you later. Bye.
FIRAZ (Translation): Do you need anything from me?
RAFAT (Translation): Just be safe, my friend.
Firaz is being held in the Kyprinos detention centre 600 miles north of Athens. Though just 15, he's imprisoned with adults. He's committed no crime and is desperate to be reunited with his family.
FIRAZ (Translation): I am going crazy.
His phone messages are becoming increasingly frantic.
FIRAZ (Translation): Please help me I'm begging you.
In one phone message, Firaz describes what happened when he tried to get smuggled back to Turkey.
FIRAZ (Translation): We met a smuggler and he took us to the river. A boat came to the beach and someone came towards us. They started firing shotguns. I was shot in the back and could not walk. The police saw me and called an ambulance.
Firaz was treated in a hospital for his shotgun wounds. The Greek authorities say he is now being detained for his own safety.
NEDA CHADRY: There's no reason for this child to remain in detention in Greece if he can just be sent back to his family in Turkey. And if we are not able to find a way to get him out, he'll be stuck here until he is 18 years old. It seems wrong, I think.
Firaz's parents want Neda and Rafat to become his legal guardians in Greece. This may enable them to get him released from the detention centre.
RAFAT (Translation): Hopefully we will be with you in an hour.
The Kyprinos detention centre is next door to a state prison.
NEDA CHADRY: It's really in the middle of nowhere. It's a jail. This is a jail.
No filming is allowed inside but we are going to try to sneak in with a mobile phone.
FIRAZ (Translation): I truly appreciate you coming to visit me. I am happy.
RAFAT (Translation): The sponsorship will be under my name and Neda's name. I will sponsor you here.
FIRAZ (Translation): Thank you!
NEDA CHADRY (Translation): Thank you?
Firaz is still in pain from his shotgun wounds. He's been in detention for 6 weeks and says he's not been treated by a doctor. Neda meets the manager and demands Firaz receives proper medical care.
NEDA CHADRY: We've found out there's kind of no way to get him sent back to Turkey to be with his family because as a Syrian, Turkey will likely not let him in. The Greeks won't let his family to be here. Everybody tells you to be patient. And I guess being patient for us is an easy thing but for him every moment lasts a lifetime. He kept saying "I just want my family." "I just want my Mum." And that's when you really feel the child. He just wants his mummy.
Orphans Mohamed and Nagham are now living in Athens. Their aunt and uncle have found them sanctuary in a tiny room in a squat run by anarchists. Tensions are high in the area. There have been anti-immigration protests on their doorstep.
NAGHAM (Translation): It's the same as the camp here. The only difference is that we have a front door, but anyone can break in from the balcony. A kid was lost from this building.
MOHAMED (Translation): He's been lost for two weeks, they still haven't found him. Where did he go? No-one knows. He is 13 or 14 years old.
NAGHAM (Translation): A child was kidnapped! How's that not going to scare us? The situation is exactly the same as Syria. If you go outside anything can happen to you.
Europe's Criminal Intelligence Agency estimate that 10,000 children have gone missing since arriving in Europe. They warn that criminal gangs are targeting children for slavery and sexual abuse.
NAGHAM (Translation): All the people are happy. They are playing and laughing and we are sitting here like crazy people. They do whatever they want, they buy whatever they want.
MOHAMED (Translation): Children here study and go to school. Their parents get them whatever they want. We don't have anything. I feel like people don't see me.
Mohamed and Nagham later fled the squat where they were living because refugees nearby were firebombed by right wing extremists. They are now living in another part of Athens.
ARAM: I am the father, the mother, the uncle. I am everything for them now.
Aram's nieces and nephews have now all been granted asylum and recently arrived in Britain. Trifa doesn't know if she will be allowed to stay. Firaz has recently been moved to a centre for unaccompanied children. He is still no closer to being reunited with his family.
Producer/Director
Martin Webb
Producers
Salwa Amor
Tom Anstiss
Paul Hamann
Camera/Director
Robin Barnwell
Associate Producer
Gus Palmer
Story Editor
Brett Irwin
James Calderwood
Ryan Walsh
Narrator
Caroline Catz
Original Music
Alex Attwood
1st November 2016