To reach Spain, Alassane spent three years travelling. In comparison, the same trip by plane takes only 10 hours. Over the course of those three years, he went hungry, was robbed and arrested, and saw 44 people dying in the sea. He still believes he was lucky, he did not die.

Nadifa fled her home in Somalia ten years ago due to the ongoing conflict. She wanted to go directly to the UK, where her children were already living. She did not want to take the risk of travelling irregularly across two continents and therefore applied for a visa. However, her application was repeatedly refused.

Jalil, an Iranian national who had arrived at Istanbul Ataturk Airport from Tehran was intercepted while allegedly attempting to board a plane to the UK with a forged passport. Although he submitted a self-drafted asylum request to the airport police in writing, he was told that he would be sent back to Iran that same evening.

Four years ago, Saeed and his brother, both Iranian nationals, arrived in Turkey with the intention of joining the rest of their family and claiming asylum. The journey was long and dangerous, but despite the risks involved, Saeed would not approach the Turkish border guards for help due to the fear of being shot.

Dawod and members of his family were related to the Communist Party of Afghanistan. Fearing harassment and persecution by the mujaheddin, Dawod left Afghanistan in April 2005 and moved to Pakistan. Nevertheless, he did not feel safe in Pakistan and fourteen months later Dawod decided to try to reach Europe and set off with the help of smugglers.

Kasim is an Iraqi citizen, who fled from Baghdad to Turkey and then to Bulgaria in December 2006 together with other six persons. At the Bulgarian border the guards opened fire on them and wounded several of Kasim's fellow travellers.

Mitra is an asylum seeker from Afghanistan. He was 16 years old when he tried to reach Greece in a small inflatable dinghy with other people. The Greek coast guard discovered them when they were about 300 meters away from the Island of Lesbos, but drove the boat back into international waters.

Malik, an Iraqi citizen, arrived at Budapest International Airport through Syria. Return procedures were instigated against him for travelling with a false visa. He was held in detention for two days before returned to Syria. A ban of entry was also issued against Malik, prohibiting him to lawfully seek asylum in Hungary.

Rahim, arrived at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands. He was arrested for travelling with false travel documents. He wanted to apply for asylum, but was told he would first be prosecuted for travelling with false documents.

Marco, from Cuba, arrived in the Netherlands having used a false passport. He was denied entry to the Netherlands and placed in detention. Throughout the procedure he did not receive legal assistance despite requesting to see a lawyer.