Angela Merkel suspends EU asylum rules in 2015

Angela Merkel suspends EU asylum rules in 2015

In the summer of 2015, there was a surge in the number of people from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, seeking asylum in Europe.

Social Democrat politician Aydan Özoğuz was Angela Merkel's minister of state concerned with immigration, refugees and integration from 2013 to 2018. She describes to Josephine McDermott visiting her father's home city of Kilis in Turkey, near the Syrian border in 2015, where refugees were being sheltered.

And she recalls the motivation for Mrs Merkel's decision to suspend the EU's Dublin Regulation, which temporarily allowed free passage for Syrian asylum seekers, but drew opposition from critics.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

(Photo: A migrant from Syria holds a picture of Angela Merkel as he arrives at a railway station in Munich. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Episoder(2000)

The GI Who Chose China

The GI Who Chose China

When the Korean War ended, a few American prisoners of war chose to go with their captors and try life under communism, instead of heading home to the USA. David Hawkins was one of them. He told his story to Chloe Hadjimatheou in 2012.Photo: American, and South Korean POWs who refused repatriation. An African-American prisoner is singing a Chinese folk song to entertain his companions at the Songgongni camp while they wait. 1954.(Credit: Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)

13 Jun 20189min

The Beginning of the Korean War

The Beginning of the Korean War

North Korean communist troops invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. Initially they were very successful until UN forces (mainly American) helped drive them back. The war lasted until a ceasefire was declared in July 1953, millions of Koreans were killed in the fighting. Dr Yoon Goo Lee was living in a town in South Korea when the invasion started. In 2010 he told his story to Louise Hidalgo.Photo: Korean refugees fleeing to the south. Credit: Getty Images

12 Jun 20188min

Korea Divided

Korea Divided

At the end of World War Two with the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Korea was split along the 38th parallel. Soviet forces took control in the North of the peninsula, and the US military took control in the South. Shin Insup was a boy, living the northern city of Pyongyang at the time. In 2015 he spoke to Catherine Davis about what happened next.(Photo: Korea 38th parallel. Credit: Getty Images/AFP)

11 Jun 20189min

The Execution of Adolf Eichmann

The Execution of Adolf Eichmann

Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was executed just after midnight on June 1st 1962 in a prison in central Israel. Holocaust survivor Michael Goldmann-Gilead witnessed his execution and was one of two people tasked afterwards with scattering Eichmann's ashes at sea. He had been part of the police investigation collecting evidence against Eichmann before his trial, and had lost his parents and sister in the Holocaust. He has been telling Louise Hidalgo his story.Picture: Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann preparing his defence in his cell at the Teggart Fortress ahead of his trial in Jerusalem in April 1961 for crimes against humanity (Credit: Getty Images)

8 Jun 20189min

The Death of General Sani Abacha

The Death of General Sani Abacha

Nigeria's military ruler, General Sani Abacha, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack on 8 June 1998. In 2015 Alex Last spoke to the general's personal doctor, Professor Sadiq Suleiman Wali. Photo: General Abacha in 1997. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

7 Jun 20189min

The 1968 Belgrade Student Revolt

The 1968 Belgrade Student Revolt

In June 1968, Belgrade University was occupied by students protesting against Yugoslavia's system of 'market socialism'. The occupation lasted seven days and was supported by students in other parts of the country. Dina Newman speaks to Sonja Licht who was one of the organisers. (Photo: Sonja Licht with her fellow protester and later her husband, Milan Nikolic, at the site of the protests. Credit: Nikolic family archive)

6 Jun 20188min

The Assassinaton Attempt that Sparked a Middle East War

The Assassinaton Attempt that Sparked a Middle East War

In June 1982, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Shlomo Argov, was shot and critically injured by a Palestinian gunman outside the Dorchester Hotel in London. The attack was the trigger for the start of the devastating war in Lebanon just days later. Simon Watts talks to Shlomo Argov's son, Gideon Argov.(Photo: Shlomo Argov. Credit: Shutterstock)

5 Jun 20188min

Couch to 5K

Couch to 5K

In 1996 a young TV producer in Boston came up with the idea of a running programme to help people exercise regularly. Couch to 5K running groups now exist all over the world and it has even been endorsed by Britain's National Health Service, the NHS. Elizabeth Davies hears from Josh Clark, who invented the programme.Photo credit: Science Photo Library

4 Jun 20189min

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