It's the most desperate cases that make the headlines, such as the overcrowded boats sinking between the Tunisian coast and the Italian island of Lampedusa - and more than 5,000 have died in this manner since 1996...

You'd like to work legally, but you're not allowed to. You can't not work, not if you wanna eat. That leaves you two options, work illegally (grey-economy jobs, cash-in-hand, false name, no paperwork, etc.) or "legally" (above-board jobs with papers) by illegal means. Those are the choices faced by undocumented African migrants in Europe. Which would you choose? I'd probably go with legal work by "illegal" means. But what does this entail?

A group of skinheads screaming "These are 'white' seats!" at two female African bus passengers while all the other white passengers keep staring out of the windows as if nothing…

Imagine trying to survive without the permission to do any kind of work. You've got to eat, which isn't free, and you've got to sleep somewhere, so you need money…