Two Nameless Bodies Washed Up on the Beach. Here Are Their Stories | Anders Fjellberg | TED Talks

Translator: Francisco Fontao Prieto Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

So this right here

Isto de aquí

is the tiny village of Elle, close to Lista.

é a pequena aldea de Elle, preto de Lista.

It's right at the southernmost tip of Norway.

Está no punto más ao sur de Noruega.

And on January 2 this year,

E o 2 de xaneiro deste ano

an elderly guy who lives in the village,

un ancián que vive nesta aldea,

he went out to see what was cast ashore

foi ver o que a marea trouxera

during a recent storm.

nunha tormenta recente.

And on a patch of grass right next to the water's edge,

E nunha morea de herba xusto á beira da auga,

he found a wetsuit.

atopou un traxe de neopreno.

It was grey and black, and he thought it looked cheap.

Era gris e negro e pensou que parecía barato.

Out of each leg of the wetsuit

De cada perna do traxe

there were sticking two white bones.

estaban a saír dous ósos brancos.

It was clearly the remains of a human being.

Eran claramente os restos dun ser humano.

And usually, in Norway, dead people are identified quickly.

E normalmente, en Noruega, os mortos identifícanse rápido.

So the police started searching

A policía comezou a buscar entón

through missing reports from the local area,

en informes de desaparecidos pola zona,

national missing reports,

en informes nacionais

and looked for accidents with a possible connection.

e buscou accidentes con posibles conexións.

They found nothing.

Non atoparon nada.

So they ran a DNA profile,

Entón fixeron un perfil de ADN

and they started searching internationally through Interpol.

e comezaron a buscar internacionalmente a través da Interpol.

Nothing.

Nada.

This was a person that nobody seemed to be missing.

Era unha persoa que ninguén parecía botar a faltar.

It was an invisible life heading for a nameless grave.

Era unha vida invisible que ía acabar nunha tumba anónima.

But then, after a month,

Pero despois dun mes,

the police in Norway got a message from the police in the Netherlands.

a policía de Noruega recibiu unha mensaxe da policía holandesa.

A couple of months earlier, they had found a body,

Un par de meses antes, atoparan un corpo,

in an identical wetsuit, and they had no idea who this person was.

cun traxe idéntico, e non sabían quen era esa persoa.

But the police in the Netherlands managed to trace the wetsuit

Pero a policía holandesa conseguiu rastrexar o traxe

by an RFID chip that was sewn in the suit.

grazas a un chip RFID que tiña cosido.

So they were then able to tell

Así que puideron saber

that both wetsuits were bought by the same customer at the same time,

que os dous traxes os mercara á vez o mesmo cliente,

October 7, 2014,

o 7 de outubro de 2014,

in the French city of Calais by the English Channel.

na cidade francesa de Calais na Canle da Mancha.

But this was all they were able to figure out.

Pero iso foi todo o que conseguiron desvelar.

The customer paid cash.

O cliente pagou en efectivo.

There was no surveillance footage from the shop.

Non había gravacións da tenda.

So it became a cold case.

Quedou coma un caso aberto.

We heard this story,

Escoitamos esta historia,

and it triggered me and my colleague, photographer Tomm Christiansen,

e chamounos a atención a min e ao fotógrafo Tomm Christiansen

and we of course had the obvious question: who were these people?

e por suposto preguntámonos o obvio: quen eran estas persoas?

At the time, I'd barely heard about Calais,

Daquela, nunca oíra nada sobre Calais,

but it took about two or three seconds to figure out

pero levoume dous ou tres segundos darme conta

Calais is basically known for two things.

de que Calais é coñecida por dúas cousas:

It's the spot in continental Europe closest to Britain,

É o lugar de Europa continental máis próximo ao Reino Unido

and a lot of migrants and refugees are staying in this camp

e moitos migrantes e refuxiados están nestes campamentos

and are trying desperately to cross over to Britain.

e intentan desesperadamente cruzar ao Reino Unido.

And right there was a plausible theory about the identity of the two people,

E velaí unha teoría plausible sobre a identidade das dúas persoas,

and the police made this theory as well.

teoría que a policía tamén postulou.

Because if you or I or anybody else with a firm connection to Europe

Porque se calquera de nós con vínculos firmes en Europa

goes missing off the coast of France, people would just know.

desaparece da costa de Francia, a xente saberíao.

Your friends or family would report you missing,

A nosa familia e amigos denunciaría a desaparición,

the police would come search for you, the media would know,

a policía buscaríanos, os medios saberíano,

and there would be pictures of you on lampposts.

e habería imaxes coa nosa cara nos farois.

It's difficult to disappear without a trace.

É difícil desaparecer sen deixar rastro.

But if you just fled the war in Syria,

Pero se escapaches da guerra en Siria,

and your family, if you have any family left,

e a túa familia, se aínda a tes,

don't necessarily know where you are,

non sabe necesariamente onde estás,

and you're staying here illegally

e estás aquí de forma ilegal

amongst thousands of others who come and go every day.

no medio doutros miles que van e veñen cada día.

Well, if you disappear one day, nobody will notice.

Ben, se desapareces un día, ninguén o saberá.

The police won't come search for you because nobody knows you're gone.

A policía non te buscará porque ninguén sabe que desapareciches.

And this is what happened to Shadi Omar Kataf

E isto é o que lle pasou a Shadi Omar Kataf

and Mouaz Al Balkhi from Syria.

e a Mouaz Al Balkhi de Siria.

Me and Tomm went to Calais for the first time in April this year,

Tomm e máis eu fomos a Calais por primeira vez en abril deste ano,

and after three months of investigation, we were able to tell the story

e despois de tres meses de investigación, puidemos contar a historia

about how these two young men fled the war in Syria,

de como estes dous mozos que escaparon da guerra de Siria,

ended up stuck in Calais,

acabaron atoados en Calais,

bought wetsuits and drowned in what seems to have been an attempt

compraron traxes de neopreno e afogaron no que parece ser un intento

to swim across the English Channel in order to reach England.

de nadar a través da Canle da Mancha para chegar a Inglaterra.

It is a story about the fact that everybody has a name,

É unha historia sobre o feito de que todos temos un nome,

everybody has a story, everybody is someone.

todos temos unha historia, todos somos alguén.

But it is also a story about what it's like to be a refugee in Europe today.

Pero tamén é unha historia sobre como é ser un refuxiado hoxe en Europa.

So this is where we started our search.

Aquí comezamos a nosa procura.

This is in Calais.

Isto é en Calais.

Right now, between 3,500 and 5,000 people are living here

Agora mesmo, entre 3.500 e 5.000 persoas

under horrible conditions.

viven aquí en condicións pésimas.

It has been dubbed the worst refugee camp in Europe.

É considerado o peor campamento de refuxiados de Europa.

Limited access to food, limited access to water,

Acceso limitado a alimentos, acceso limitado á auga,

limited access to health care.

así como á atención médica.

Disease and infections are widespread.

As enfermidades e infeccións esténdense.

And they're all stuck here because they're trying to get to England

E están todos atrapados aquí porque intentan chegar a Inglaterra

in order to claim asylum.

para poder soliticar asilo.

And they do that by hiding in the back of trucks headed for the ferry,

E inténtano agochándose detrás de camións que van ao ferry.

or the Eurotunnel,

ou ao Eurotúnel,

or they sneak inside the tunnel terminal at night

ou cóanse de noite dentro da terminal do túnel

to try to hide on the trains.

para intentar agocharse nos trens.

Most want to go to Britain because they know the language,

A maioría van ao Reino Unido porque coñecen a lingua,

and so they figure it would be easier to restart their lives from there.

e pensan que será máis sinxelo comezar de novo as súas vidas alí.

They want to work, they want to study,

Queren traballar, queren estudar,

they want to be able to continue their lives.

queren poder continuar coas súas vidas.

A lot of these people are highly educated and skilled workers.

Moitos teñen boa formación e son traballadores cualificados.

If you go to Calais and talk to refugees, you'll meet lawyers, politicians,

Se vas a Calais e falas cos refuxiados atoparás avogados, políticos,

engineers, graphic designers, farmers, soldiers.

enxeñeiros, deseñadores gráficos, agricultores, soldados.

You've got the whole spectrum.

Hai de todo.

But who all of these people are

Pero nunca dicimos quen son

usually gets lost in the way we talk about refugees and migrants,

cando falamos de refuxiados e migrantes,

because we usually do that in statistics.

xa que o adoitamos facer en estatísticas.

So you have 60 million refugees globally.

Hai 60 millóns de refuxiados no mundo.

About half a million have made the crossing

Cerca de medio millón

over the Mediterranean into Europe so far this year,

cruzaron o Mediterráneo cara a Europa este ano.

and roughly 4,000 are staying in Calais.

e aproximadamente 4000 están en Calais.

But these are numbers,

Pero estes son só números,

and the numbers don't say anything about who these people are,

e os números non din ren sobre quen son estas persoas,

where they came from, or why they're here.

de onde veñen, ou por que están aquí.

And first, I want to tell you about one of them.

E primeiro, quero falarvos dun deles.

This is 22-year-old Mouaz Al Balkhi from Syria.

Este é Mouaz Al Balkhi, sirio de 22 anos.

We first heard about him after being in Calais the first time

Soubemos del cando estivemos en Calais por primeira vez

looking for answers to the theory of the two dead bodies.

buscando respostas á teoría dos dous cadáveres.

And after a while, we heard this story

E despois dun tempo, escoitamos a historia

about a Syrian man who was living in Bradford in England,

dun home sirio que vivía en Bradford en Inglaterra,

and had been desperately searching for his nephew Mouaz for months.

e levaba meses buscando desesperadamente ao seu sobriño Mouaz.

And it turned out the last time anybody had heard anything from Mouaz

E a última vez que alguén escoitou falar de Mouaz

was October 7, 2014.

foi o 7 de outubro de 2014.

That was the same date the wetsuits were bought.

A mesma data en que se mercaron os traxes.

So we flew over there and we met the uncle

Así que voamos alí e falamos co tío

and we did DNA samples of him,

e tomamos mostras do seu ADN,

and later on got additional DNA samples from Mouaz's closest relative

e máis tarde conseguimos mostras do familiar máis cercano de Mouaz

who now lives in Jordan.

que vive en Xordania.

The analysis concluded

A análise concluíu

the body who was found in a wetsuit on a beach in the Netherlands

que o corpo encontrado nun traxe na praia en Holanda

was actually Mouaz Al Balkhi.

era Mouaz Al Balkhi.

And while we were doing all this investigation,

E mentres faciamos toda esta investigación,

we got to know Mouaz's story.

coñecemos a historia de Mouaz.

He was born in the Syrian capital of Damascus in 1991.

Naceu en Damasco, capital siria, en 1991.

He was raised in a middle class family,

Criouse nunha familia de clase media,

and his father in the middle there is a chemical engineer

e seu pai, no medio, é un enxeñeiro químico

who spent 11 years in prison for belonging to the political opposition in Syria.

que pasou 11 anos en prisión por pertencer á oposición política en Siria.

While his father was in prison,

Mentres o pai estaba en prisión,

Mouaz took responsibility and he cared for his three sisters.

Mouaz responsabilizouse e coidou das súas tres irmás.

They said he was that kind of guy.

Dixeron que era ese tipo de persoa.

Mouaz studied to become an electrical engineer

Mouaz estudou para enxeñeiro eléctrico

at the University of Damascus.

na Universidade de Damasco.

So a couple of years into the Syrian war,

Uns anos despois do comezo da guerra siria,

the family fled Damascus and went to the neighboring country, Jordan.

a familia fuxiu de Damasco e foi ao país veciño, Xordania.

Their father had problems finding work in Jordan,

O pai tiña problemas para atopar traballo en Xordania,

and Mouaz could not continue his studies,

e Mouaz non podía seguir cos estudos,

so he figured, "OK, the best thing I can do to help my family

así que pensou: «Vale, o mellor que podo facer para axudarlles

would be to go somewhere where I can finish my studies

é ir a algún lugar onde poida rematar os meus estudos

and find work."

e encontrar traballo».

So he goes to Turkey.

Así que marcha a Turquía.

In Turkey, he's not accepted at a university,

En Turquía, non o aceptan na universidade,

and once he had left Jordan as a refugee, he was not allowed to reenter.

e logo de deixar Xordania sendo refuxiado, non lle permiten volver.

So then he decides to head for the UK,

Así que decide ir ao Reino Unido,

where his uncle lives.

onde vive seu tío.

He makes it into Algeria, walks into Libya,

Chega a Alxeria, camiña por Libia,

pays a people smuggler to help him with the crossing into Italy by boat,

págalle a un traficante de persoas para cruzar a Italia en barco,

and from there on he heads to Dunkirk,

e dende aí vai a Dunkerque,

the city right next to Calais by the English Channel.

a cidade próxima a Calais pola Canle da Mancha.

We know he made at least 12 failed attempts to cross the English Channel

Sabemos que intentou cruzar a Canle sen éxito polo menos 12 veces

by hiding in a truck.

agochándose nun camión.

But at some point, he must have given up all hope.

Pero nalgún momento, debeu perder calquera esperanza.

The last night we know he was alive,

A última noite que sabemos que estaba vivo

he spent at a cheap hotel close to the train station in Dunkirk.

estivo nun hotel barato cerca da estación de tren en Dunkerque.

We found his name in the records, and he seems to have stayed there alone.

Atopamos o seu nome nos rexistros, e parece que estivo alí só.

The day after, he went into Calais, entered a sports shop

O día seguinte, foi a Calais, entrou nunha tenda de deportes

a couple of minutes before 8 o'clock in the evening,

un par de minutos antes das 8 da tarde

along with Shadi Kataf.

canda Shadi Kataf.

They both bought wetsuits,

Os dous compraron traxes de neopreno,

and the woman in the shop

e a muller da tenda

was the last person we know of to have seen them alive.

foi a última persoa que sabemos que os viu vivos.

We have tried to figure out where Shadi met Mouaz,

Intentamos pescudar onde Shadi coñeceu a Mouaz,

but we weren't able to do that.

mais non o conseguimos.

But they do have a similar story.

Pero teñen unha historia similar.

We first heard about Shadi after a cousin of his, living in Germany,

Oímos falar de Shadi grazas ao seu curmán, de Alemaña,

had read an Arabic translation of the story made of Mouaz on Facebook.

que lera unha tradución árabe da historia que se fixera de Mouaz en Facebook.

So we got in touch with him.

Así que falamos con el.

Shadi, a couple of years older than Mouaz,

Shadi, un par de anos maior que Mouaz,

was also raised in Damascus.

tamén se criou en Damasco.

He was a working kind of guy.

Era un home traballador.

He ran a tire repair shop and later worked in a printing company.

Tiña unha tenda de reparar pneumáticos e logo traballou nunha imprenta.

He lived with his extended family,

Vivía coa súa extensa familia,

but their house got bombed early in the war.

pero bombardearan a súa casa ao comezo da guerra.

So the family fled to an area of Damascus known as Camp Yarmouk.

Así que a familia fuxiu á área de Damasco coñecida como Campamento Yarmouk.

Yarmouk is being described as the worst place to live

Yarmouk foi descrito como o peor lugar da Terra

on planet Earth.

onde pode un vivir.

They've been bombed by the military, they've been besieged,

Son bombardeados polos militares, sofren asedio

they've been stormed by ISIS

atácaos o ISIS

and they've been cut off from supplies for years.

e levan anos sen provisións.

There was a UN official who visited last year,

Había un oficial da ONU que foi o ano pasado,

and he said, "They ate all the grass so there was no grass left."

e dixo: «comeron toda a herba así que xa non quedaba herba».

Out of a population of 150,000,

Dunha poboación de 150.000

only 18,000 are believed to still be left in Yarmouk.

crese que só 18.000 están aínda en Yarmouk.

Shadi and his sisters got out.

Shadi e as súas irmáns escaparon.

The parents are still stuck inside.

Os seus pais aínda están atrapados dentro.

So Shadi and one of his sisters, they fled to Libya.

Así que Shadi e unha das súas irmás fuxiron a Libia.

This was after the fall of Gaddafi,

Isto foi logo da caída de Gaddafi,

but before Libya turned into full-blown civil war.

pero antes de que Libia caese nunha total guerra civil.

And in this last remaining sort of stability in Libya,

Nesta última pseudoestabilidade en Libia,

Shadi took up scuba diving, and he seemed to spend most of his time underwater.

Shadi comezou a facer mergullo

e seica pasaba a maior parte do tempo baixo a auga.

He fell completely in love with the ocean,

Namorouse por completo do océano,

so when he finally decided that he could no longer be in Libya,

así que cando finalmente decidiu que non podía estar máis en Libia,

late August 2014,

a finais de agosto de 2014,

he hoped to find work as a diver when he reached Italy.

esperaba atopar traballo como mergullador ao chegar a Italia.

Reality was not that easy.

A realidade non era tan sinxela.

We don't know much about his travels

Non sabemos moito sobre as súas viaxes

because he had a hard time communicating with his family,

porque tiña complicado comunicarse coa súa familia,

but we do know that he struggled.

pero sabemos que lle costou.

And by the end of September,

E a finais de setembro,

he was living on the streets somewhere in France.

vivía na rúa nalgún lugar de Francia.

On October 7, he calls his cousin in Belgium,

O 7 de outubro chama ao seu curmán en Bélxica,

and explains his situation.

e explícalle a situación.

He said, "I'm in Calais. I need you to come get my backpack and my laptop.

Dixo: «Estou en Calais, necesito que me collas a mochila e o ordenador.

I can't afford to pay the people smugglers to help me with the crossing to Britain,

Non podo pagarlles aos traficantes de persoas para cruzar ao Reino Unido,

but I will go buy a wetsuit and I will swim."

pero mercarei un traxe de neopreno e nadarei».

His cousin, of course, tried to warn him not to,

O curmán, por suposto, intentou dicirlle que non,

but Shadi's battery on the phone went flat,

pero o móbil de Shadi descargouse,

and his phone was never switched on again.

e nunca se volveu acender.

What was left of Shadi was found nearly three months later,

O que quedou de Shadi atopouse case tres meses despois,

800 kilometers away

a 800 quilómetros

in a wetsuit on a beach in Norway.

nun neopreno nunha praia de Noruega.

He's still waiting for his funeral in Norway,

Aínda espera polo seu funeral en Noruega,

and none of his family will be able to attend.

e ninguén da súa familia poderá asistir.

Many may think that the story about Shadi and Mouaz

Moitos poden pensar que a historia de Shadi e Mouaz

is a story about death,

é unha historia sobre a morte,

but I don't agree.

pero non estou de acordo.

To me, this is a story about two questions that I think we all share:

Para min, é unha historia sobre 2 cuestións que todos compartimos:

what is a better life,

que é unha vida mellor

and what am I willing to do to achieve it?

e que estou disposto a facer para conseguila?

And to me, and probably a lot of you,

E para min e para moitos de vós

a better life would mean

unha vida mellor significaría

being able to do more of what we think of as meaningful,

ser capaz de facer máis cousas con significado,

whether that be spending more time with your family and friends,

aínda que iso poida ser pasar máis tempo coa familia e amigos,

travel to an exotic place,

viaxar a un lugar exótico,

or just getting money to buy that cool new device

ou gañar cartos para comprar un novo aparello chulo

or a pair of new sneakers.

ou un par de tenis novos.

And this is all within our reach pretty easily.

E isto é doado de acadar para nós.

But if you are fleeing a war zone,

Mais se foxes dunha zona de guerra,

the answers to those two questions are dramatically different.

as respostas a estas dúas cuestións son terriblemente diferentes.

A better life is a life in safety.

Unha vida mellor é unha vida segura.

It's a life in dignity.

É unha vida digna.

A better life means not having your house bombed,

Unha vida mellor é que non bombardeen a túa casa,

not fearing being kidnapped.

non ter medo de que te secuestren.

It means being able to send your children to school,

Significa ser capaz de levar os nenos á escola,

go to university,

ir á universidade,

or just find work to be able to provide for yourself and the ones you love.

ou simplemente atopar traballo e sustentarte a ti e aos teus.

A better life would be a future of some possibilities

Unha vida mellor sería un futuro dalgunhas posibilidades

compared to nearly none,

comparado a case ningunha

and that's a strong motivation.

e iso é unha forte motivación.

And I have no trouble imagining

E podo imaxinar facilmente

that after spending weeks or even months

que despois de pasar semanas ou ata meses

as a second-grade citizen,

coma un cidadán de segunda,

living on the streets or in a horrible makeshift camp

vivindo nas rúas ou nun campamento provisional horrible

with a stupid, racist name like "The Jungle,"

cun nome estúpido e racista como «a Xungla»

most of us would be willing to do just about anything.

a maioría de nós estariamos dispostos a facer calquera cousa.

If I could ask Shadi and Mouaz

Se puidese preguntarlles a Shadi e Mouaz

the second they stepped into the freezing waters of the English Channel,

no momento en que se meteron nas frías augas da Canle da Mancha

they would probably say, "This is worth the risk,"

probablemente dirían: «Paga a pena o risco»,

because they could no longer see any other option.

porque non podían ver ningunha outra opción.

And that's desperation,

E iso é desesperación,

but that's the reality of living as a refugee in Western Europe in 2015.

pero é a realidade de vivir sendo un refuxiado en Europa Occidental en 2015.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

Bruno Giussani: Thank you, Anders.

Bruno Giussani: Grazas, Anders.

This is Tomm Christiansen,

El é Tomm Christiansen,

who took most of the pictures you have seen and they've done reporting together.

que sacou a maioría das fotos que vistes e fixeron a reportaxe xuntos.

Tomm, you two have been back to Calais recently.

Tomm, vós os dous volvestes a Calais hai pouco.

This was the third trip.

Esta foi a terceira viaxe.

It was after the publication of the article.

Foi despois da publicación do artigo.

What has changed? What have you seen there?

Que cambiou? Que vistes alí?

Tomm Christiansen: The first time we were in Calais,

Tomm Christiansen: A primeira vez que fomos alí

it was about 1,500 refugees there.

había cerca de 1.500 refuxiados.

They had a difficult time, but they were positive, they had hope.

Estaban a pasalo mal, pero eran positivos, tiñan esperanza.

The last time, the camp has grown, maybe four or five thousand people.

A última vez, o campamento aumentara, quizais catro ou cinco mil persoas máis.

It seemed more permanent, NGOs have arrived,

Parecía máis permanente, as ONG chegaran,

a small school has opened.

abriran unha pequena escola.

But the thing is that the refugees have stayed for a longer time,

Pero a cousa é que os refuxiados levan xa un tempo alí

and the French government has managed to seal off the borders better,

e o goberno francés conseguiu pechar mellor as fronteiras,

so now The Jungle is growing,

así que agora a Xungla está crecendo,

along with the despair and hopelessness among the refugees.

xunto coa desesperación e a desesperanza entre os refuxiados.

BG: Are you planning to go back? And continue the reporting?

BG: Planeades volver? E continuar informando?

TC: Yes.

TC: Si.

BG: Anders, I'm a former journalist,

BG: Anders, son un experiodista,

and to me, it's amazing that in the current climate

e para min, é incrible que no tempo actual

of slashing budgets and publishers in crisis,

de recortes de orzamentos e editores en crise,

Dagbladet has consented so many resources for this story,

Dagbladet accedese a dar moitos medios para esta historia

which tells a lot about newspapers taking the responsibility,

o que mostra como os xornais asumen a responsabilidade,

but how did you sell it to your editors?

pero como llo vendestes aos editores?

Anders Fjellberg: It wasn't easy at first,

Andres Fjellberg: Non foi fácil ao comezo

because we weren't able to know what we actually could figure out.

porque non eramos capaces de saber o que iamos poder indagar.

As soon as it became clear

Cando quedou claro

that we actually could be able to identify who the first one was,

que realmente podiamos identificar quen era o primeiro,

we basically got the message that we could do whatever we wanted,

básicamente dixéronnos que podiamos facer o que quixésemos,

just travel wherever you need to go, do whatever you need to do,

viaxade onde necesitedes, facede o que necesitedes,

just get this done.

simplemente conseguídeo.

BG: That's an editor taking responsibility.

BG: Iso é un editor asumindo a responsabilidade.

The story, by the way, has been translated and published

A historia, por certo, foi traducida e publicada

across several European countries, and certainly will continue to do.

en varios países europeos, e continuará sendo publicada.

And we want to read the updates from you. Thank you Anders. Thank you Tomm.

E queremos ler as vosas novidades. Grazas Anders. Grazas Tomm.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)