A European overview of irregular migration

The issue of irregular migration is clearly a concern for European citizens, according to various Eurobarometer surveys on the subject. It fuels mistrust of immigration itself, including towards asylum seekers: the fact that an unknown proportion of people who have been denied asylum continue to reside in EU countries fuels a feeling of powerlessness.

However, irregularity is not synonymous with illegality, as irregular migrants have fundamental rights. It is therefore important to shed as much light as possible on the diverse realities of irregular migration in the EU over the last decade.

This brief provides an overview of how EU rules regulate irregular migration. It then looks at the diversity of Member States’ choices in terms of regularisation. The most recent estimates of the volume of irregular immigration are then discussed and compared with the still very limited knowledge of migration flows.