Each year, thousands of African refugees try to reach the European mainland. In the majority of cases hunger, grinding poverty and the fear of persecution caused by race, religion or language are the motivations for people fleeing their homes in one of the numerous unstable countries in Africa. The routes used by the refugee-smugglers lead them in parts across multiple Stations on the African continent before they reach the ocean and continue their dangerous journey by crossing the Mediterranean to reach southern Europe or make their way through the Sinai to reach Israel.