Two stories caught my attention recently. One was about six migrants drowning off Sicily when a boat carrying around 120 people, mainly from Syria and Egypt, ran aground, metres from the beach. Of these, 31 were feared drowned, including a baby and four pregnant women. It is inexpressibly sad as they must have set out with such hope for the future, convinced that leaving behind a miserable existence meant going forward into a life they had always dreamt of.

The other was about Indian illegals in the UK desperate to return to their home country. Many of them had destroyed their passports on reaching foreign shores and now it is difficult for them to go back. They are sleeping rough with no hope of finding employment. Having had a rude awakening, all they want right now is to return home, however humble that may be.

Both these articles highlight the human reality of striving for a better life. The victims in these cases were desperate to escape either grinding poverty back home or political turmoil, ready to risk anything just to get away. But having got away, they have realised that life isn’t going to be better.

The vulnerable sections of society fall into the hands of unscrupulous agents who draw a vivid picture of a promised land, reassuring them that reaching that utopia is possible, but at a price. They name a figure that takes the breath away of their impoverished listeners. But their imagination has been stirred and they are willing to go to any lengths to reach that attractive goal. They begin to believe in the hype, willing to make any sacrifice to make their dreams come true.

Enter the second villain of the piece — the unprincipled moneylender. He quotes an exorbitant interest rate, knowing that they will take the bait having been seduced with the promise of what seems instant riches. Agreeing to all the terms (most of which they cannot even comprehend) they borrow a sum they are sure of being able to pay back in no time at all. Being naive and often with little education, they have been sold the dream in technicolour.

However, once they have left behind the familiarity of what they perceive as their bleak house, they soon find themselves out of their depth. There is a huge disparity in what is promised to them and what they experience as they continue on their journey to freedom. I am sure they must be assailed by doubt and negativity about the future the farther they travel, but it is too late to turn back.

The diffident lines of workers you see at airports, with uncertainty carving lines on their faces, evoke glances of sympathy by those assured of a job and a comfortable standard of living. I have witnessed this many times — lines of men being ferried through the terminal by one in charge who shepherds them much as one would sheep. Their body language seems to scream “I am afraid, unsure and helpless”, but all they can do is continue to follow instructions until they can be let loose in the big bad world. They have been filled with a false sense of hope and will soon find it is entirely misplaced.

As soon as they land on foreign soil, they find they have been abandoned to their fate. And their sad story comes to our attention via the media. We don’t get to know individual names or histories, just another tale of human betrayal.

It is easy for the more fortunate to wonder how anyone could be so naive as to be taken in by such obvious conmen.

But I can counter that with stories of educated men and women being duped by hoax phone calls that inform them of prizes they have won. Despite knowing that they have not entered any contest, these gulls have been known to forward amounts to fictitious accounts to claim the big reward.