WEBVTT

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How do you make it as 
a refugee in Germany?

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Shoaib Akhtar is not just a fighter
in the ring, he also fought his way

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through many hardships and made it 
to Europe, one of many millions

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fleeing war and terror
in their home countries.

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It wasn't easy.

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A lot of people have died getting to
Greece from Turkey in the water.

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Once they reach Europe,
the struggle continues.

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Who is granted asylum?

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Who is allowed to stay
in Germany and who is not?

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Since I'm living in this world,
I never had a passport.

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They have nowhere to go
other than inside themselves.

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And it's like living in hell.

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From the streets of Afghanistan
into the ring, Shoaib Akhtar

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is finding his feet in a new society.

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From refugee to boxing pro.

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My goal is to be the
first ever Afghan champion.

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Let's ask him, how do you
make it as a refugee in Germany?

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This is my flat.

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This is where I live
in Berlin since two years.

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As you can see
my pride on the wall.

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We used to sleep like five
to six persons in one room.

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So it's a lot of space.

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I still think that I could 
fit up to 10 people here.

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Most Afghans think that
anyone who lives in Europe

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or anyone who lives in Germany
is rich or they think that we are 

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billionaires or we have
a lot of money.

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Or we’re just living the best happy life,
but it’s not the reality.

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I used to live in in a refugee camp

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and just imagine living with
160 to 200 other people in a big hall.

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It's just miserable.

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Shoaib came to Germany
without his family when he was 16,

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after traveling through Asia
and Europe for almost three years.

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He was briefly in jail in Poland
before finally reaching Germany.

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One of my work colleagues
came late and I told him

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that he's not allowed to
come late, you know.


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And he said
"Why are you so German?

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You’ve turned into a German!"

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And I'm like no,
I'm not German.

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But then I thought about it and yeah, 
that's something super German I'd say.

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Germans are very
on point of the time.

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I would say my heart is still Afghan.
For me to just think

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how I used to live as a
kid and how hard it was.

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So that just gives me an extra
motivation to just be more tough

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and endure whatever 
comes my way.

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I would say boxing is a
therapy session for me.

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As an Afghan kid, there's a
lot of violence in the streets.

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Also, when you grow up as a kid
everything you see

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in the daily life it’s just 
violence, violence, violence.

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Just to be able
to be strong enough

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to get over the thoughts 
that you have in your head.

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Fighting sport gives you 
that confidence

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 to be able to handle it.

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Boxing, its beautiful violence.

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So the beauty is that you can
dance, you can move around,

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you can show your skills,
but the violence is also there.

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You're dancing and somebody 
is still punching you in the face

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and knocks you out
while you're dancing,

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that's also not fun.

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This is the place where I
first arrived in Germany, Berlin.

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It looks so different now.

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Kind of giving me
goosebumps and flashbacks.

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It was super crowded,
there was a whole lot of people.


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Thousands and thousands of people.

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The cold hit me, the night hit me
and I didn't have any shoes on.

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I had sandals on.

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And I actually regretted
the decision that I made

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coming here.

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It's so amazing to see 
that it looks prettier now.

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It looks calmer now, peaceful.


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And that we don't have the chaos
that we had in 2015/16, you know?

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That was during the peak
of the refugee crisis

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at the height of the war in Syria, 
where many refugees

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were stuck at borders
across Europe.

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Then Chancellor Angela Merkel
sent the message that

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refugees are welcome in Germany.

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Every person who is politically
persecuted or who has to flee

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civil war has the right to fair
treatment and an asylum process.

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We have a huge challenge that
we can only overcome if we have

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the common will, but also if
we break new ground together.

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We used to call her grandmother
because she was the one and only

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person that we would hear from
every day that she's the onl< person

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who's helping refugees,

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who's welcoming refugees,

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who's accepting refugees.

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Since 2015, Germany has had more than 
2.5 million asylum applications.

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To this day, it remains the
top destination for refugees

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in the European Union.

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When Shoaib first came, he was not
welcome, so he needed a lawyer.

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The Afghans basically who came 2015
together with the Syrian refugees

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were kind of third or fourth
class asylum applicants.

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Basically mostly male Afghan
applicants were rejected

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with the claim that it's not so
dangerous in Afghanistan

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that you can't find your way

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although all reports from all
international organizations said

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Afghanistan is the worst and most
dangerous country in the world.

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There are three main categories 
for refugee protection

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and asylum in Germany.

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First, there's the Geneva Refugee
Convention, giving residency status

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to people in fear of being
persecuted because of their race,

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religion, political opinion
or sexual orientation.

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Subsidiary protection helps people
who would suffer not based on

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who they are, but because
there's a war in their country

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or other forms of violence
against civilians.

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The lowest category:

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The humanitarian status for potential 
victims of human rights violations.

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When he arrived,
Shoaib didn't fall

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under any of these
three categories.

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The time after being rejected,
although you deserve at least

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humanitarian status, creates
a grey area of being basically

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without any rights.

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They can't be deported,
but they can't also stay.

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So they have nowhere to go
other than inside themselves.

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It's like living in hell.

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He got rejected and in August 2021 
when the Taliban took over power,

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there was an opportunity to reapply
because of the changed political

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and security situation.
And this is what we did.

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Honestly I'm also happier
with this now.


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Before I had nothing,
but now I have something.

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Shoaib had to wait
almost seven years,

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but now he has his residency permit,
which also gives him the right to work.

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Finally, he can get a job.

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To be busy doing something just
stops you to do something bad.

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And it's also a plus point.
You work, you learn something,

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you develop skills that can actually 
also be used in the future.

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I'm a dishwasher, not a
burger maker. I'm learning.

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Even though Shoaib turned 
pro in boxing, he still can't

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make a living from it, so
he needs this second job.

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I usually work here
three to five days.

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It's very hard as a professional
athlete to find a place or a job

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where you can work in a perfect
timing, where you can also

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train in the morning and
also train in the evening.

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The boss here is very nice.

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He used to box himself, so I think
he understands me better

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and it just helps me to recover,
it helps me mentally to relax,


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calm down and get prepared
for the next training session.


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Studies show that
five years after their arrival,

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every second male
refugee is employed.

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However, they earn only 55%
of an average German income.

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I want to be able to live from
boxing. And to get to the level

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where you're able to
live from it, you need to

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get to the higher paid fights.


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Which are mostly in Japan,
USA, UK or Philippines.

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My goal is to be the first ever
Afghan champion. We don't have

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any Afghan champion or
super world champion in boxing.

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We don't have any
Olympic gold medalist in boxing.

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To achieve that, Shoaib has
to make a name for himself.

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His next fight is against a tough
opponent who is ranked much higher.

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Shoaib is preparing for the
biggest bout of his career.

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When you enter the ring, you have to
leave everything behind you.

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If Shoaib wins today, he can
make a huge leap in the rankings.

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If he loses, he'll be thrown back 
by two or three years.

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Things look good after round two.

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As a fighter, every time
we fight, we go through a lot.

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You do need to be 
tough to be a fighter.

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You need courage,
you need heart to be a fighter.

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All humans think about failure.

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It's just a thought
in everyone's mind. 

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The thought in the back of your head
that tells you: What if you can’t do it?

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His boxing future is uncertain now,
but at least Shoaib could build

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a life in Germany and for the
time being, he can stay here.

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But the defeat in the
ring still weighs heavily.

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First, I need this loss to sit,
I still can’t see accepting it. 

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The important thing that counts is
that you get over that sound

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and you accept it and
at least tell yourself to try it.

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If you don't try,
you're already lost.

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But if you try and succeed,
that's the beauty of it.