Irregular Immigration: A Controversial Issue - Essay Sample

Introduction

Illegal, unauthorized, undocumented and clandestine are just a few of the many terms that have been used to describe irregular immigrants into a state, nation or region. Irregular immigration has been a controversial issue and one that has stricken contention between and within political, social, economic and cultural aspects of life. The year 2015 presented a surge of refugees in Europe, from different parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, seeking for better living standards, employment and asylum. The 2017 Union Speech by the EU commission president Juncker argued that Europe must remain in solidarity seeking asylum, but what has been done over and over again has been aiming at achieving the last number of irregular immigrants (Molenaar, 2018).

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The surge in 2015 however caused pressures and fragmentations in the EU policies on irregular migrants seeking asylums, with one policy, the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) putting a burden on the states of entry of these refugees as the ones responsible to register them for asylum, while the Emergency Relocation Scheme faced opposition from certain member countries. It is, therefore, crucial to understand who an irregular migrant is, as well as navigate the national policies put in place to address the issue of irregular immigration.

Every country has a set of rules and stipulations for migration, but when an individual crosses the border and enters a state in a way that violates these laws, then this is said to be illegal or irregular immigration. Irregular immigration could also be arrived at by the expiry of legal residence documents and terms that makes an immigrant legal as well as the through the working of immigrants without work permits. Irregular migration can also occur when an individual crosses into a country through the wrong border point or uses false documents to enter the country (International Organization for Migration, 2011). In general, irregular immigrants are also referred to as unknown migrants. While the known immigrants are subject to the care and responsibility of the states they are in terms of security, provision, non-refoulment and justice, the unknown immigrants are often in danger of exploitation, detention, limited movement, social injustices and deportation. An irregular immigrant can shift across the lane to become a regular one and vice versa. The EU has therefore set a number of policies and acts to handle ad processing asylums.

The 1999 treaty of Amsterdam granted the EU member countries or institution the right to legislation on matters of asylum. This treaty also outlined the need to adopt measures on issues of the number of fronts, the criteria to decide which member country was responsible for asylum as well as the establishment of minimum standards for the asylum. This was hence preceded by the first phase' of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) between 1999 and 2004, which replaced the Dublin convention. The Hague programme then later suggested the need for a unified procedure for irregular immigrants seeking an asylum and hence the creation of the Treaty of Lisbon (December 2009).

The pressures that the irregular immigration caused to member countries was too much that the Stockholm program pushed forward the objective of creating a common area of solidarity and protection achieved through a standard asylum procedure. The European agenda of migration of May 2015 (amidst the surge) proposed the Hotspot approach as a way of dealing with the migration pressures, whereby the 160,000 or so immigrants in need of international protection would be identified registered and fingerprinted in the frontline member states( European Union, 2018). The Dublin regulation used to assign the member state that should handle the asylums and irregular refugee is under reconsideration to relieve the member states of the pressure. However, some member countries are resistant. While these policies have been formulated for the asylum, others have been formed against them.

As a way of reducing the flow of irregular immigrant, in March 2016 the European Council reached an agreement with Turkey aiming to limit the influx of immigrants from Turkey to the EU. This statement stated that for any new or rejected asylums and immigrants due to inadmissible applications entering the Greek island, they should be returned to Turkey. For nay Syrian returned, one Syrian will be accepted in the EU, as well as the payment of EUR 6 billion to the refugee facility in turkey. The Servile Council of 2012 also concurred intending to reduce immigrant flow through an integration policy for lawfully resident immigrants as well as an asylum policy complying with different international conventions.

Irregular immigration has often been a contentious issue in many developed countries, as it often leads to the strain on social, economic, political and cultural resources. It usually exists as a result of the unlawful entry of individuals into another state without the proper documentation. It also happens when an individual overstays their resident or work permits. Irregular immigration drags along risks and pressures to the individuals as well as the states and nations hosting them. Therefore, through a set of policies, some irregular immigrants are legalized, and others denied access.

References

European Union (2018). Migration and Asylum: a challenge for Europe. European Parliament. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/PERI/2017/600414/IPOL_PERI(2017)600414_EN.pdf

IOM - International Organization for Migration (2011). Glossary on Migration. International Migration Law Series, No. 25. Retrieved from http://www.iom.int/cms/en /sites/iom/home/about-migration/keymigration-terms-1.html

Molenaar F. (2018). Irregular immigration to the EU. Clingendael State of the Union 2018. Pp. 48-45. https://www.clingendael.org/sites/default/files/2018-01/Report_Clingendael__State_of_the_Union_2018.pdf