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Every day, I listen to harrowing stories
of people fleeing for their lives,
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across dangerous borders
and unfriendly seas.
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But there's one story
that keeps me awake at night,
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and it's about Doaa.
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A Syrian refugee, 19 years old,
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she was living a grinding existence
in Egypt working day wages.
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Her dad was constantly thinking
of his thriving business back in Syria
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that had been blown to pieces by a bomb.
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And the war that drove them there
was still raging in its fourth year.
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And the community
that once welcomed them there
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had become weary of them.
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And one day, men on motorcycles
tried to kidnap her.
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Once an aspiring student
thinking only of her future,
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now she was scared all the time.
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But she was also full of hope,
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because she was in love
with a fellow Syrian refugee named Bassem.
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Bassem was also struggling in Egypt,
and he said to Doaa,
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"Let's go to Europe; seek asylum, safety.
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I will work, you can study --
the promise of a new life."
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And he asked her father
for her hand in marriage.
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But they knew to get to Europe
they had to risk their lives,
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traveling across the Mediterranean Sea,
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putting their hands in smugglers',
notorious for their cruelty.
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And Doaa was terrified of the water.
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She always had been.
She never learned to swim.
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It was August that year,
and already 2,000 people had died
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trying to cross the Mediterranean,
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but Doaa knew of a friend who had made it
all the way to Northern Europe,
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and she thought, "Maybe we can, too."
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So she asked her parents if they could go,
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and after a painful discussion,
they consented,
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and Bassem paid his entire life savings --
2,500 dollars each --
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to the smugglers.
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It was a Saturday morning
when the call came,
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and they were taken by bus to a beach,
hundreds of people on the beach.
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They were taken then by small boats
onto an old fishing boat,
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500 of them crammed onto that boat,
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300 below, 500 above.
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There were Syrians, Palestinians,
Africans, Muslims and Christians,
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100 children, including Sandra --
little Sandra, six years old --
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and Masa, 18 months.
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There were families on that boat,
crammed together shoulder to shoulder,
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feet to feet.
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Doaa was sitting with her legs
crammed up to her chest,
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Bassem holding her hand.
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Day two on the water,
they were sick with worry
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and sick to their stomachs
from the rough sea.
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Day three, Doaa had a premonition.
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And she said to Bassem,
"I fear we're not going to make it.
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I fear the boat is going to sink."
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And Bassem said to her,
"Please be patient.
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We will make it to Sweden,
we will get married
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and we will have a future."
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Day four, the passengers
were getting agitated.
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They asked the captain,
"When will we get there?"
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He told them to shut up,
and he insulted them.
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He said, "In 16 hours we will reach
the shores of Italy."
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They were weak and weary.
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Soon they saw a boat approach --
a smaller boat, 10 men on board,
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who started shouting at them,
hurling insults,
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throwing sticks, asking them
to all disembark
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and get on this smaller,
more unseaworthy boat.
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The parents were terrified
for their children,
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and they collectively
refused to disembark.
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So the boat sped away in anger,
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and a half an hour later, came back
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and started deliberately ramming a hole
in the side of Doaa's boat,
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just below where she
and Bassem were sitting.
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And she heard how they yelled,
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"Let the fish eat your flesh!"
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And they started laughing
as the boat capsized and sank.
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The 300 people below deck were doomed.
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Doaa was holding on to the side
of the boat as it sank,
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and watched in horror as a small child
was cut to pieces by the propeller.
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Bassem said to her, "Please let go,
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or you'll be swept in and the propeller
will kill you, too."
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And remember -- she can't swim.
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But she let go and she started moving
her arms and her legs,
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thinking, "This is swimming."
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And miraculously,
Bassem found a life ring.
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It was one of those child's rings
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that they use to play
in swimming pools and on calm seas.
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And Doaa climbed onto the ring,
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her arms and her legs
dangling by the side.
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Bassem was a good swimmer,
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so he held her hand and tread water.
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Around them there were corpses.
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Around 100 people survived initially,
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and they started coming together
in groups, praying for rescue.
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But when a day went by and no one came,
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some people gave up hope,
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and Doaa and Bassem watched
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as men in the distance took their
life vests off and sank into the water.
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One man approached them
with a small baby perched on his shoulder,
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nine months old -- Malek.
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He was holding onto a gas canister
to stay afloat, and he said to them,
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"I fear I am not going to survive.
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I'm too weak. I don't have
the courage anymore."
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And he handed little Malek
over to Bassem and to Doaa,
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and they perched her onto the life ring.
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So now they were three,
Doaa, Bassem and little Malek.
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And let me take a pause
in this story right here
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and ask the question:
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why do refugees like Doaa
take these kinds of risks?
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Millions of refugees are living
in exile, in limbo.
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They're living in countries
from a war that has been raging
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for four years.
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Even if they wanted to return, they can't.
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Their homes, their businesses,
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their towns and their cities
have been completely destroyed.
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This is a UNESCO World Heritage City,
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Homs, in Syria.
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So people continue to flee
into neighboring countries,
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and we build refugee camps
for them in the desert.
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Hundreds of thousands of people
live in camps like these,
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and thousands and thousands more,
millions, live in towns and cities.
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And the communities,
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the neighboring countries
that once welcomed them
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with open arms and hearts
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are overwhelmed.
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There are simply not enough schools,
water systems, sanitation.
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Even rich European countries
could never handle such an influx
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without massive investment.
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The Syria war has driven almost
four million people over the borders,
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but over seven million people
are on the run inside the country.
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That means that over half
the Syrian population
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has been forced to flee.
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Back to those neighboring
countries hosting so many.
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They feel that the richer world
has done too little to support them.
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And days have turned into months,
months into years.
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A refugee's stay is supposed
to be temporary.
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Back to Doaa and Bassem in the water.
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It was their second day,
and Bassem was getting very weak.
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And now it was Doaa's turn
to say to Bassem,
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"My love, please hold on to hope,
to our future. We will make it."
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And he said to her,
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"I'm sorry, my love,
that I put you in this situation.
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I have never loved anyone
as much as I love you."
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And he released himself into the water,
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and Doaa watched as the love of her life
drowned before her eyes.
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Later that day,
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a mother came up to Doaa with her
small 18-month-old daughter, Masa.
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This was the little girl I showed you
in the picture earlier,
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with the life vest.
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Her older sister Sandra had just drowned,
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and her mother knew she had to do
everything in her power
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to save her daughter.
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And she said to Doaa,
"Please take this child.
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Let her be part of you.
I will not survive."
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And then she went away and drowned.
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So Doaa, the 19-year-old refugee
who was terrified of the water,
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who couldn't swim,
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found herself in charge
of two little baby kids.
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And they were thirsty and they were hungry
and they were agitated,
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and she tried her best to amuse them,
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to sing to them, to say words
to them from the Quran.
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Around them, the bodies were bloating
and turning black.
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The sun was blazing during the day.
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At night, there was a cold moon and fog.
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It was very frightening.
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On the fourth day in the water,
this is how Doaa probably looked
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on the ring with her two children.
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A woman came on the fourth day
and approached her
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and asked her to take another child --
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a little boy, just four years old.
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When Doaa took the little boy
and the mother drowned,
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she said to the sobbing child,
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"She just went away
to find you water and food."
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But his heart soon stopped,
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and Doaa had to release
the little boy into the water.
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Later that day,
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she looked up into the sky with hope,
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because she saw two planes
crossing in the sky.
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And she waved her arms,
hoping they would see her,
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but the planes were soon gone.
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But that afternoon,
as the sun was going down,
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she saw a boat, a merchant vessel.
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And she said, "Please, God,
let them rescue me."
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She waved her arms and she felt
like she shouted for about two hours.
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And it had become dark,
but finally the searchlights found her
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and they extended a rope,
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astonished to see a woman
clutching onto two babies.
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They pulled them onto the boat,
they got oxygen and blankets,
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and a Greek helicopter came
to pick them up
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and take them to the island of Crete.
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But Doaa looked down and asked,
"What of Malek?"
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And they told her the little baby
did not survive --
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she drew her last breath
in the boat's clinic.
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But Doaa was sure that as they had
been pulled up onto the rescue boat,
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that little baby girl had been smiling.
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Only 11 people survived
that wreck, of the 500.
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There was never an international
investigation into what happened.
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There were some media reports
about mass murder at sea,
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a terrible tragedy,
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but that was only for one day.
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And then the news cycle moved on.
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Meanwhile, in a pediatric
hospital on Crete,
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little Masa was on the edge of death.
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She was really dehydrated.
Her kidneys were failing.
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Her glucose levels were dangerously low.
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The doctors did everything
in their medical power to save them,
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and the Greek nurses never left her side,
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holding her, hugging her,
singing her words.
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My colleagues also visited
and said pretty words to her in Arabic.
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Amazingly, little Masa survived.
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And soon the Greek press started reporting
about the miracle baby,
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who had survived four days in the water
without food or anything to drink,
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and offers to adopt her came
from all over the country.
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And meanwhile, Doaa
was in another hospital on Crete,
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thin, dehydrated.
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An Egyptian family took her into their
home as soon as she was released.
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And soon word went around
about Doaa's survival,
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and a phone number
was published on Facebook.
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Messages started coming in.
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"Doaa, do you know
what happened to my brother?
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My sister? My parents? My friends?
Do you know if they survived?"
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One of those messages said,
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"I believe you saved
my little niece, Masa."
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And it had this photo.
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This was from Masa's uncle,
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a Syrian refugee who had made it
to Sweden with his family
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and also Masa's older sister.
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Soon, we hope, Masa will be reunited
with him in Sweden,
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and until then, she's being cared for
in a beautiful orphanage in Athens.
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And Doaa? Well, word went around
about her survival, too.
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And the media wrote
about this slight woman,
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and couldn't imagine how
she could survive all this time
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under such conditions in that sea,
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and still save another life.
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The Academy of Athens, one of Greece's
most prestigious institutions,
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gave her an award of bravery,
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and she deserves all that praise,
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and she deserves a second chance.
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But she wants to still go to Sweden.
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She wants to reunite
with her family there.
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She wants to bring her mother
and her father and her younger siblings
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away from Egypt there as well,
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and I believe she will succeed.
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She wants to become a lawyer
or a politician
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or something that can help
fight injustice.
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She is an extraordinary survivor.
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But I have to ask:
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what if she didn't have to take that risk?
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Why did she have to go through all that?
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Why wasn't there a legal way
for her to study in Europe?
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Why couldn't Masa have taken
an airplane to Sweden?
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Why couldn't Bassem have found work?
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Why is there no massive resettlement
program for Syrian refugees,
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the victims of the worst war of our times?
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The world did this for the Vietnamese
in the 1970s. Why not now?
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Why is there so little investment
in the neighboring countries
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hosting so many refugees?
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And why, the root question,
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is so little being done to stop
the wars, the persecution
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and the poverty that is driving
so many people
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to the shores of Europe?
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Until these issues are resolved,
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people will continue to take to the seas
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and to seek safety and asylum.
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And what happens next?
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Well, that is largely Europe's choice.
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And I understand the public fears.
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People are worried about their security,
their economies, the changes of culture.
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But is that more important
than saving human lives?
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Because there is something
fundamental here
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that I think overrides the rest,
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and it is about our common humanity.
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No person fleeing war or persecution
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should have to die
crossing a sea to reach safety.
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(Applause)
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One thing is for sure,
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that no refugee would be
on those dangerous boats
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if they could thrive where they are.
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And no migrant would take
that dangerous journey
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if they had enough food
for themselves and their children.
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And no one would put their life savings
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in the hands of those notorious smugglers
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if there was a legal way to migrate.
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So on behalf of little Masa
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and on behalf of Doaa
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and of Bassem
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and of those 500 people
who drowned with them,
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can we make sure that they
did not die in vain?
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Could we be inspired by what happened,
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and take a stand for a world
in which every life matters?
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
Brian Greene
This transcript was updated on May 16, 2016.
The section beginning at 2:27 now reads:
They were taken then by small boats
onto an old fishing boat,
500 of them crammed onto that boat,
300 below, [200] above.