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The Essential: From Our Own Correspondent: Bleak in Berlin

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From Our Own Correspondent: Bleak in Berlin

03/12/2015 GMT

BBC World Service - The Essential, From Our Own Correspondent: Bleak in Berlin

Chris Haslam sizes up the prospects for one Syrian refugee family who made it to Germany

In a hostel for new arrivals to Germany, Chris Haslam takes a view of life there for a family of Syrian refugees who've just arrived. How will they make it through the winter?

A special report from Chris Haslam in a hostel for new arrivals to Germany, in the Kopernick district of eastern Berlin. He meets one Syrian family who have just arrived there after "40 days in the European wilderness", fleeing war at home and making their way riskily - and expensively - via the Mediterranean Sea and the Balkans. They've made it to safety - yet Chris finds they have the look of people who've only just realised their journey is by no means over. Without family connections, cash or social status, is it likely that their aspirations for their children will be realised? And in the short term, how will they make it through this winter?

(Photo: Asylum seekers line up for their registration in front of the State Office of Health and Social Affairs in Berlin. Credit: Kay Nietfeld/AFP/Getty Images)

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