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Transcript/ScriptUKR 1YR: REFUGEE TRAIN
HEADLINE: The Last Train to Germany: A Free Lifeline for Ukrainian Refugees
TEASER: One year on from Russia’s invasion, most free transport for refugees has been removed
PUBLISHED AT: 02/16/2023 at 6:26 pm
BYLINE: Henry Ridgwell
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Przemyśl, Poland
VIDEOGRAPHER: Henry Ridgwell
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: SV, Bowman
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT:
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE: VPKGF
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) [[In the first weeks of Russia’s war on Ukraine, refugees who fled to neighboring countries were offered free travel across Europe. A year on, the only remaining free transport is a train from Poland to Germany, paid for by the German state and operated mainly by volunteers. As Henry Ridgwell reports, places on the train are in high demand.]]
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF TRAIN IN STATION))
((NARRATOR))
The night train to Germany. Every two days, the service leaves Przemyśl on the Ukraine border for Hanover. It is reserved solely for refugees. But getting a place on board isn’t easy.
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF WAITING ROOM SHELTER))
Inside Przemyśl station, a waiting room has become a shelter reserved for mothers and young children. They are the first to receive the wristbands that guarantee them a place on the train.
Red Cross volunteers oversee the process. They are frequently offered bribes. But there is a strict waiting list.
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF HRABARCHUK AND FAMILY))
Alexandr Hrabarchuk and his family fled the city of Severo-Donetsk, on the frontline in eastern Ukraine. After two days waiting in a shelter, the family has their wristbands – and is preparing for life in Germany.
((Alexandr Hrabarchuk, Ukrainian Refugee (in Ukrainian) ))
“Seventy percent of the city has been destroyed. It will take at least three or four years to rebuild. Of course, I want to go back, I grew up there. It was very hard to leave. We did it for the sake of the children.”
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF TRAIN))
((NARRATOR))
Each compartment on the train can sleep six people – or up to eight if there are young children.
((Sebastien Bertin, Red Cross Volunteer (in French) ))
“We have only four railroad cars on the train. So we have 210 people with the wristbands who will join the train to Hanover. We wish that we could have five or six cars - we have an enormous need for these extra railroad cars to be able to accommodate all the refugees.”
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF REFUGEES BEING PUT ON TRAIN))
((NARRATOR))
The process is slow and methodical. Volunteers use every available space for the refugees – and their luggage.
((VIDEO: REPORTER STAND-UP / VOA FOOTAGE OF REFUGEES BEING PUT ON TRAIN))
((Henry Ridgwell, VOA News))
“There are many more refugees desperate to reach Germany than there are places on the train.”
((NARRATOR))
Some are able to by their own rail, bus or flight tickets to Western Europe and beyond. But many refugees have lost everything – and rely on this free service.
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF REFUGEES WAITING ON PLATFORM))
For many, it is a long wait in the freezing winter night. Olga is from Zaitseve, a village outside Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine – scene of some of the most intense fighting.
((Olga, Refugee from Bakhmut (in Ukrainian) ))
“The houses were completely demolished. There is no place to go. They destroyed the village in the middle of the night. I don’t know where I can start again. Now I can't buy a house, I can't build a house. I don't know how I can live. I don't know what hope God can give us.”
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF REFUGEES ON TRAIN, TRAIN DEPARTING))
((NARRATOR))
For now, the only hope is to escape from the war – to put faith in the charity of strangers.
After a two-hour operation, 230 refugees have been squeezed on board – 20 more than planned.
And so – at 10:30 p.m. -- the train pulls out of Przemyśl for the 16-hour journey to Hanover. Another step on the long road to a new life in an unfamiliar land.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, Przemyśl, on the Poland-Ukraine border.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Przemyśl, Poland
Embargo DateFebruary 16, 2023 20:34 EST
Byline((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, Przemyśl,
on the Poland-Ukraine border.))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
