Struggling for a life worse than they left behind

FOR a picture of the volume of migrants crossing illegally from Africa, you only have to look at the number of undocumented migrants who have braved the often perilous Gibraltar Strait sea crossing only to be caught by the Spanish authorities.

More than 17,300 undocumented migrants sailed into the hands of the Spanish authorities last year. There is hardly a day goes by when boatloads of hopeful African immigrants are not arrested as they attempt to make their way into Europe in search of a better life.

But that life generally begins in grim internment camps which are packed to capacity and offer living conditions barely fit for humans.