Berlin project 'upcycles' refugee boats into bags

When Abid Ali risked his life in a rubber dinghy in 2015 as he fled Pakistan for Europe, he didn't think that three years later he would be making bags, backpacks and sneakers out of similar boats in a small workshop in Berlin.

Ali, a tailor, is working with non-profit organisation Mimycri to upcycle the rubber from abandoned refugee boats found on beaches in Greece after often perilous sea crossings via Turkey.

Since Germany received more than a million migrants fleeing war and prosecution in the Middle East, Africa and central Asia in 2015, migration has become a major issue in Germany that is testing Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition.

By making fashion accessories out of the rubber dinghies used by refugees, Mimycri wants to create jobs for migrants and give them a chance to show Germans their talents.

In Mimycri's Berlin workshop, Ali carefully...