ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IN EUROPE: DYNAMICS, CAUSES AND POLICIES Franck Düvell Centre on Migration, Policy and Society University of Oxford

Presentation Introduction What is an Irregular Immigrant? Patterns of Irregular Migration Irregular Migration in Numbers Cause of Irregular Migration Addressing the Irregular Migration Myths The Economics of Irregular Migration Policy Implications Possible Solutions

What is an irregular immigrant? There are four major criteria that determine an irregular immigrant: either a person has clandestinely and without authorisation crossed the border of a nation state and is or is not working; or a person, who has legally stayed in a given country fails to depart according to the time limit set in his or her visa and overstays and is or is not working; or a person legally who is staying in a given country is taking up employment in breach of visa regulations and is thereby jeopardising its immigration status; or a person is born to illegal immigrants and becomes an illegal immigrant him or herself by birth even without ever having crossed an international border.

Patterns of Irregular Migration Overstaying Mixed Flows Biographic breaks Short-term versus long term strategies Migration from neighbouring versus distant countries

Irregular Migration in Numbers apprehensions of illegal entrants annually to transit migrants awaiting entry. Irregular immigrants represent between 2 and 15 per pent of immigrant population, 5 per cent on average. 4-7 irregular immigrants in EU million worldwide.

Causes Irregular migration is a legal, political and social construct. Irregular migration is related to: - Asymmetries in globalisation, - Global migration systems and networks, - Asymmetries between demand and supply of labour, - Asymmetry between economic forces, individual aspirations and institutional goals (the migration tension triangle), - Asymmetries between flexible lives and migration strategies and inflexible migration regimes.

Irregular Migration Myths Myth no 1: Irregular migrants represent unfair competition, drive down wages and replace indigenous workers. Myth no 2: Irregular immigrants undermine the power of organised labour. Myth no 3: Irregular immigrants are a burden to the welfare system. Myth no 4: Irregular migrants are involved in criminal activities. Myth no 5: Irregular immigrants are poor and desperate individuals. Myth no 6: Irregular immigrants are exploited.

The Economics of Irregular Migration Economists are by and large positive about irregular migration; this is for a number of reasons: irregular migrants avail themselves to regions, industries and jobs which otherwise struggle to get the workers they need, hence they display the flexibility indigenous workers lack; they enhance overall productivity by facilitating further division of labour; they enable survival of otherwise uneconomic businesses and enable to offer goods and services to classes that would otherwise not be able to afford these; they free indigenous people, mostly women from housework and enable them to join a country’s work force; they enable quick labour market adjustment to ever changing economic trends; they respond to asymmetries between nationally available work forces, regular migration schemes and factual demand.

Policy Implications Is it possible, politically, practically and ethically to deport 4-7 million irregular immigrants from the soil of Europe? Is it possible to completely control and to stop illegal immigration and overstaying? Is it possible to put businesses under such close surveillance that employment of irregular immigrants is made impossible? Is it possible to put private households under close surveillance? Is it possible to put ethnic minority communities under such close surveillance that accommodating irregular immigrants is made impossible? Is it possible to completely exclude irregular immigrants from public services so that their stay is practically made impossible?

Possible Solutions Global freedom of movement (open borders) Regional freedom of movement Amnesties More controls versus more development aid More legal migration channels Sustainable migration policy

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