1. The Politics and Ethics of Irregular Migration In Europe
Academy of European Law
Migration and EU Law and Policy
The Politics and Ethics of Irregular Migration In Europe
Dr. Christina Boswell
School of Social and Political Science
University of Edinburgh

2. Structure of Lectures:
The Politics of Irregular Migration
Lecture 2:
Policies on Irregular Migration in Europe
Lecture 3:
The Ethics of Irregular Migration

3. Lecture 1:
The Politics of Irregular Migration

4. What is an irregular migrant?
Legal migration: work permit, points system, family (re)union, asylum
Illegal entry, residence and employment:
Undocumented or clandestine entry
Residence without authorisation (illegal entry or overstay)
Renumerated employment without authorisation
Terminology:
Illegal, undocumented, clandestine, irregular
Legal
Residence
Illegal residence
Legal entry
Regular migrant
Overstayer
Illegal entry
Legalisation of status
Illegal migrant

5. Irregular migration in Europe
Causes:
Income disparities and globalization
Restriction of legal routes, 1972/3
Porous external borders
Demand for cheap and flexible labour
Estimated flows:
½ million enter EU illegally every year (EU, 2003)
Estimated stocks:
- Italy: 500 – 800,000
Germany: 500,000
France: 300,000
UK: 200,000 (HO figures higher)

6. Detections of illegal entry, 2007
Total
Land
Air
Sea
Cyprus
5883
5743
140
France
5748
690
4199
909
Greece
73194
62475
1377
9342
Italy
21650
1195
20455
Malta
1702
Spain
27910
4080
12709
11751
Total EU
163903
82371
20748
48696

7. Challenge to the nation-state
Modern state: fixed territory and population
Obligations and benefits of citizenship
Challenge of migration
threatens privileged access to goods
Challenge of irregular migration
threatens contractual system per se
State under pressure to restrict immigration, and eliminate irregular migration

8. 1. Restriction and the liberal constraint
International normative constraints
UN, EU
Domestic judicial constraints
Constitutions, courts
Social cohesion/inter-ethnic relations
Leads to “gap hypothesis”

9. 2. Economic interests State as broker between organised interests
Strong business lobby for irregular migration
Leads to ambivalent migration control:
Tough rhetoric, lenient practice
“Decoupling” talk and action

10. 3. Securitization States maximizing control/surveillance
Securitize migration in order to:
Create sense of urgency
Mobilise support for restriction
Legitimize extension of state power
Risks of securitizing migration?

11. 4. Social systems Inclusionary logic of welfare states
State incapacity to steer systems
Non-compliance
Distortions
Counter-productive outcomes
Prefers to maintain “fog”

12. Exercise
Is your country’s policy on irregular migration best characterised by:
Liberal constraint
Economic interests
Securitization

13. Lecture 2:
Policies on Irregular Migration in Europe

14. Domestic European policies
Challenges for different countries
Land or sea borders
Demand for labour
Lax internal control
Migrant networks
Responses
Toleration
Legalisation (regularisations)
Crack-down
Border control
Illegal employment
Cooperation with 3rd countries

15. Emergent EU Cooperation
Single European Act (1986) and Schengen (1985)
Removal of restrictions to free movement
Strengthen external borders, avoid “country shopping”
1990 Dublin Convention
Maastricht Treaty (1992)
Illegal migration as area of “common interest”
1996 Joint position on pre-frontier assistance
1997 Resolution on combating marriages of convenience
Amsterdam Treaty (1997)
Article 63 – measures on “illegal immigration and illegal residence”

16. Main areas of cooperation
Return
2001 Directive on mutual recognition of expulsion orders
2004 Decision on organisation of joint return flights
2008 Directive on Return
Readmission agreements
2000 onwards (Morocco, Sri Lanka, Russia, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Macao, Albanisa, Algeria, China, Turkey)
Border control
Capacity-building
Pre-frontier control
FRONTEX (2005)
2007 Regulation on RABITS
Databases
Eurodac, SIS, VIS
Cooperation with 3rd countries…

17. External Dimension 1990s: 1998: High Level Working Group
Readmission agreements
Accession and pre-accession process
Euromed and Common Strategies
1998: High Level Working Group
Action Plans for Afghanistan, Albania, Iraq, Morocco, Sri Lank, Somalia
1999: Tampere Special Council
Integrate immigration and asylum into external relations
Endorsed by 2004 Hague Programme
2005: Global Approach
Migration Profiles
West Africa focus

18. Domestic politics of EU cooperation
Motivations to cooperate
Neo-functionalism - spillover
Inter-governmentalism - shared problems
Venue- shopping - shifting up and out?
External dimension

19. Lecture 3:
The Ethics of Irregular Migration

20. Rights of Migrants Whom should we admit? Liberal universalism
Equal claim to certain rights
Problem of feasibility  Basic rights
Accept migrants until conditions for realising rights are undermined
Refugee law

21. Rights to restrict Communitarian argument: Contractarian argument:
Protect shared values, way of life
Charity begins at home
Contractarian argument:
Sign up to set of rights and responsibilities
Whom should we admit / allow to settle?
Those who will conform to cultural/normative requirements
Those who contribute to society/economy

22. Application to irregular migrants?
Already on territory
Diverse causes of migration
Diverse settlement intentions
Differing skills and capacities
Moral basis for treatment
Liberal democracies and humane treatment
International human rights considerations
Contradictions
State can only grant HR retrospectively (or regularise)
Consequences of toleration? “Pull factor”

23. Synthesis: possible approaches
Regularisation
Programme
Individual case basis
Toleration
Enforcement of controls
Border controls
Carrier sanctions
Internal checks
Employer sanctions
Prevention
Cooperation with 3rd countries