Illegal Migrants, Essay Example

Introduction

There has been an increasing and ongoing public debate regarding illegal migrants in all over the world especially in Europe and United States. To explore this topic further in detail, a detailed research has been made in order to understand the definition, its implications and what are it consequences. This research papers is mostly based on the literature from the relevant journals, books and case studies. I’ve tried to identify the issues related to the topic i.e. illegal migration by highlighting the factors which influence the illegal migration along with a detailed discussion has been made on the organized crimes which are associated with the illegal migration like smuggling, human trafficking, prostitution, slavery and etc. Furthermore, to explain the topic in detail, cost associated with the illegal migration has also been discussed from both, the migrant and recipient countries point of view. To explain the topic in detail, I’ve organized this paper into the four major sections. The first section will explain the primary concept of illegal migration its definition and understanding according to the United Nations and other concerned institutes. The section will explain and explore the factors and reasons which influences the illegal migration across borders. Related journals and books have been consulted to discuss the factors and reasons in detail and what impact these factors have on both, the transit and the destination country. The section three will be highlighting the organized crimes associated with the illegal migration across the countries.

Relevant journals and the study material have been consulted to explain the crimes involved in the illegal migration. Further we will discuss the cost associated with the illegal crime and some statistics from the United Kingdom (part of the European Union) will be mentioned to identify the seriousness and severity of the issue. Final part of this paper will be based on the conclusion and recommendation about the issue. What is the illegal migration?  Before we explore and explain the topic in detail, it is important to understand the terms “illegal entry” and “illegal migration”

Definitions

United National Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR) has defined the illegal entry as, “The ‘Illegal entry’ shall mean crossing borders without complying with the necessary requirements for legal entry into the receiving State.” Whereas according to IOM, the illegal migration refers to the movements of population or humans that take place outsides the regulatory customs and procedures of the sending, transiting or receiving countries. It is important to mention here that there is no any prescribed or globally recognized definition of the illegal migration. Any entry to any country, with the intention to stay or work can be considered as illegal if the migrant does not have the required documentation or authorization, necessary for the immigration rules and policies of the country like valid visa, staying or working permit issued by the government of the relevant country. Whereas, from the sending country’s perspective, the person crossing an international and administrative border does not have the required passport for travelling or any other relevant documents which are required for leaving the country. There is a tendency to restrict the use of term “illegal migration” to cases of smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons.

According to the United States Immigration Services, the illegal immigration known as the crossing of an international border in a manner which clearly violates the immigration law of the destination country and an illegal immigrant is considered as a foreigner has illegally crossed an international political border, or a foreigner who has entered into a country legally but then overstays his/her visa.”

In Europe, this issue has gained public importance in summer 2008 when daily reports on media and news channels started highlighting the issue of unauthorized and illegal migrants started reaching Mediterranean shores and many of them have lost their lives in migration process. Both, the United States and Europe has faced huge public and political pressure due to the increasing rate of illegal migrants into the countries and were largely considered as an increasing problem. Also, it was believed in host countries that the increasing numbers of illegal and unauthorized migrants has put negative impact on their communities due to various reasons like, not following the rule of law, damage to the labor marker, increase poverty by taking away the jobs from the native and local national workers and by increasing the numbers of poor people in the country which obviously damages the national statistics in terms of GDP and growth rate. Furthermore, the illegal immigrants have also increased the pressure on the public services like health, transportation, education, security and laws and order. There are some positive impacts of illegal migration as well like contribution to the growth and economy of the destination country through tax and foreign investment.

It is pertinent to mention here that various public and political surveys were conducted in European Countries and the majority of the people have shown their serious and deep concerns over increasing numbers of the illegal migrants, however in last two to three years, the population of the illegal immigrants in UK, Germany, France and other European countries has decreased. According to German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS) survey in 2010, the majority of the British, Spanish and American population has considered the growing numbers of illegal migrants as a huge problem which is also been recognized as the economic downfall of these countries over the last decade. The 33% British survey responders claimed that the illegal migrants have increased the crime rate in UK and also are a threat to the native security whereas, the 46 percent in Germany and 56 percent in Italy shared the same concerns over the illegal migrants.

The European Commission, Standard barometer  (The European Union’s Public Opinion) surveyed in 2009 and ranked illegal immigration as the one of the top three issues and asked to form EU-Level policies and rules to tackle this growing issue. There has been a range of polices in America to deal with the illegal migrant issue, on one side the flexible immigration polices has been made in order to control the illegal migrants and encouraging them to enter legally. On the other hand, there are strict rules and policies in order to control the borders by imposing strict penalties for rule violation including deportation and etc. In Europe, however the rules regarding border controls are unique as the member states have removed the international borders (Iceland, Switzerland and Norway) and the resulting area for the free movement is known as the Schengen Area known as the primary focused area for EU border officials in terms of illegal migrant. The Schengen Area has the 42,672 kilometers (26,515 miles) of sea borders and 8,826 kilometer (5,484 miles) of the external land borders.

According to the Frontex (European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders) has transformed the Member State cooperation in Schengen Area. The primary objectives of the Frontex are data collection and reporting illegal migrants in European Union and perform risk analysis by the coordination of the Member States. Furthermore, it is also responsible for the joint enforcement and return operation in European Union. After the formation of Frontex, that data and resources pooling has increased tremendously due to the joint resource planning and funding by the European Union and Schengen States. The Budget and Finance report of Frontex in 2010 described that in the past few years, the Frontex has grown significantly due to its success which can be determined the increased budget i.e. 88 million Euros in 2010, was 6.3 million Euros in 2005 when Frontex was started.

How does the illegal migration take place?

It is very hard to explain the reasons which enforce the illegal migration in any country or continent. The causes and factors which influence the illegal migration are hard to determine as commonly said, the combination of different factors and aspects influence the illegal migration and gives rise to this phenomenon. Mainly speaking, there are two main factors and reasons for illegal migration i.e. “push factors” and “pull factors”. The push factors basically include the origin, economic, political, the professional and security aspects which influence the illegal migration from one country to another or from one continent to other. Whereas the “pull factors” are mostly concerned with the needs, demands of the immigrant in destination countries in order to address a fertility smallness replacement level and the ageing population and also to ensure the demand of skill labor market. The increasing trend of globalization and its emergence has caused so many different threats to the global environment and the illegal migration is one of the growing threats for the growing globalization trend. This advance environment has not only highlighted and accentuates the traditional caused of illegal migration but also boost the other factors which are responsible for the illegal migration.

The political instability is known as one of the most important push factors for illegal migration as the Looking first to the “push causes,” consider the political aspect as the dictatorial or undemocratic regimes and government are considered as the primary source and reason for the illegal migration. In such scenario, these governments sometimes makes and implements the policies against the large part of their own population which is against the regime, resulting in the form of crisis, conflicts and riots which later on lead towards the mass genocide or ethnic cleansing in those countries. Such incidents influence the mass illegal migration from those countries to others.  For example, crisis in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Rwanda are the clear examples of mass illegal migration which was mostly with the intentions to save their lives and families.  The final project report of Clandestino by Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy in 2009, the mass Cuban’s movement of approximately 30,000 people to the United States in 1994 for the purpose of seeking democratic form of government is another example of the political instability and illegal migration.  Furthermore, in the case of political instability and serious security concerns to the population, a large portion will try to move to the neighbouring countries illegally and for such purpose, many governments and countries in world have re-formed their immigration policies and rules for any kind of stay in the destined country. The United Nations Refugees Agency recorded, more than 42 million people are outside the country of their nationality due to the persecution on account of race, religion, political opinion, and civil war.

It is possible that sometimes the source or transit country for illegal immigration may become the destination country due to the strict border control by the destination countries or through the new immigration policies and rules. The enforcement of the strict immigration policies and they strict border surveillance can be the reason for such situations.  For example, in the last decade, Morocco was considered as a transit country for the illegal immigrants to the European Union through Gibraltar, the Canary Islands and the two occupied cities Ceuta and Melilla, both cities have shown an incredible increase in illegal immigrants, mostly consists of the natives from the West and East African countries with a large number of undocumented immigrants from countries of the Niger Delta which were facing political instability and crisis.

Another “push factor” is the selected immigration laws of the destination countries which only just allow the qualified and certified skilled labor to enter into their countries. This policy and practice further leads to decrease the numbers of illegal population and immigrants from their counties as many of these don’t have the required skills or qualification for the legal stay into the country.  Furthermore, some industries like agriculture or building construction business does not requires the high qualifications of specific skills, in such cases, the numbers of illegal immigrants will increase as the employers may hire them on cheap wage rate (more than they get in their native country).  The educational and skill discrimination has been largely criticized by the non-government organizations  as such incidents also encourages the skilled labor and qualified persons to move to the other countries in order to get the higher revenues and better standard of life. As in the European Union, the adoption of a new strict immigration laws has increased the numbers of illegal migrants.

Another “push cause” is that illegal migration is also driven by economic roots found in regional disparities, which is basically a process of globalization. As the rapidly growing technological advancements and globalization is increasing the gap between the poor and rich countries. This factor has a significant effect on the illegal migration as the employers in the developed or rich countries tends to hire cheap labour from the developing or underdeveloped countries but still the wage rate higher than the expected in their native countries.  For example, the workers in South Mediterranean countries are keen to move to the other side of the sea because the employers hire them at such wage rate which is significantly higher than they could make in their own countries. Another element for this economic factor is the difference in the currency and its exchange rate which is normally higher than the native countries. Many Africans and Egyptian citizen comes to the European Union illegally for the higher wage and currency rate so that they could support their families in back home.

Sometimes the economic collapse of the some countries due to the pressure of globalization can cause the increase and influence the illegal migration to other countries. As the lack of competitiveness, technology, education the people tends to more to some other places illegally in order to get settlement. As mentioned above the agribusiness industry and the building construction business normally hire illegal immigrants on cheap labor and these industries normally do not require the high level of skills and qualifications.

Another main cause of illegal migration around the world is due to the environmental factors. Mostly, the poor countries are largely affected by such issues. Increase in the rate of d desertification in many regions, or the rises in sea level or severe weather in the transit countries can be the case of illegal migration. For example, in Africa the erosion of clay and graded soils and depletion of productive lands in the greater region of Darfur is the main caused behind massive movement towards south in order to search for better working and living environment.

Furthermore, the occurrence of natural disasters can also be the reason for the increase illegal migration. Normally, the poor and weak countries who do not have the enough resources and planning to meet the upcoming natural disaster or to recover from its damages and to provide adequate services to its victims are the primary source of illegal immigration. The tsunami, volcano eruptions, earthquake or any other natural disaster often destroy the efficiency of any state and its institutions. As a result, people tend to move to some other safe places and large scale of migration can be occurred due to such natural disasters.

Organized crimes in illegal migration

There are many organized crimes associated to with the illegal immigration, can be described as human smuggling, illegal trafficking, prostitutes and etc. The organized crimes primarily refers to the sub-national and transnational organizations and agencies which operates systematically within or beyond the boundaries of a particular country to carry out their illegal operations and activities which outside the purview or international and national laws. The main objectives and aims of these organized crimes are to make profit or to achieve some specific objectives for its leaders and members through illegal activities.  It is important to mention here that although the organized crimes are illegal in nature but it may have some connections with the government and legal agencies. Primarily there are two main and key activities associated with the organized crimes, the trafficking and smuggling of illegal good and objects, and to provide protection and security services to different illegal businesses in a particular country or worldwide. The Russian agencies and mafia were involved in selling and trafficking illegal substances and goods along with the provision of security services to the criminal people (Volkov). Also, in Russian case, the mafia was extensively involved in the transnational activities along with the trafficking of illegal products.

The organized crimes in recent years have become more complex and diverse in nature in its scope and it is considered that the transnational crimes are active in many countries, tend to go in countries where the opportunities to expand illegal activities are high and the risk involved is comparatively low than the other countries.  It is pertinent to mention here that the governmental control, the contacts and links in the law enforcement agencies and institutions is the main reason behind their illegal and secret movements across national and international borders. The politicians are primarily responsible for the migration and in particular the illegal migration in order to avoid the risk to their state considered as a body or a container for the polity (Bigo). But in actual, the illegal trafficking and migration is a real danger for the integrity of the nation and also a challenge to the sovereignty of the state.

The human smuggling is considered as the worst crime in international law. In human trafficking and smuggling, the people are considered as commodities which are moved illegally to other countries against a payment and thus they tend to generate profit from illegal trafficking people across borders.  The main reason behind this illegal migration and human smuggling is to fill the gaps in the employment structure or labour market in the recipient country.  Furthermore, sometimes the migrants or people turn themselves voluntarily for such purpose in order to move to some other place for the better price against their work. Sarcastically, the human smuggling is a good business and known as a valuable commodity as they don’t easily perish and can easily be transported, re-used and re-sold (Ghosh). As mentioned above, the international human trafficker or smugglers makes their money on the basis of their contacts and links in different countries in order to continue their illegal activities, they have to pay some money to their links and contacts in the government agencies and law enforcement institutions (Salt).

The main intention of a smuggler is to undertake the task for the illegal transportation of a person against an agreed amount to a particular and agreed destination. The smugglers sometime fails to do their job due to some security issues or cheat their customers and leave them somewhere between the route or some unfamiliar country with no money, documents and helpful contacts and this situation leads towards another horrific crime of prostitution in those countries. The other type of intentionality in human trafficking and smuggling relates to the exploitation of the immigrant which normally involves the prostitution, drug trafficking or slavery. It is mainly done by hijacking or blackmailing the victims or illegal migrants and forced them to perform these activities in order to make profit and money for the smuggler or the trafficker. The victim sometimes does not know the nature of the job and thus forced to get involved in such activities by emotional or physical harm.

The cost of illegal migration

It is obvious that the nature and level of the border controls systems determine the illegal trafficking, more strict procedures and rules will result in less illegal migration and it will be difficult for the illegal migrants to enter into the country (Kyle). We can say that the follow of illegal migrants and the policies of the recipient country both are connected with each other as the state policies basically determine the control over its borders, the more intense control will refer to the less illegal or undocumented immigrants entry to the country. Also the use of bureaucratic and paramilitary means to secure the border controls can ultimately increase the costs of entry to the migrants. In this case, the migrant will have to pay more money to the professional smuggler or their assistants due to the secure and systematic border control through paramilitary and scientific methods like biometric systems, the migrant will pay more to secure his or her entry to the country.

Furthermore, in UK recent estimates have suggested that there may be more than 600,000 illegal immigrants living in UK and potentially, it can be more than 800,000. It is very often in UK that mostly people have overstayed and did not compliance to the terms of their visa. The UK Home office report, the Illegal immigrants are costing the UK taxpayer up to an estimated £4,250 every year by using the public services of this value in terms of health, transportation, education and etc. The London School of Economics further studied that the total cost of to the taxpayers by the illegal immigrants can be estimated up to £3.1billion and further suggested that the possible number is illegal immigrants in UK could be approx.725,000.

Conclusion and recommendations

In recent years, due to the globalization, the illegal migration is considered as a growing phenomenon with some serious and severe affects to the stability, integrity and security of countries, both the transit and the destination.   This globally increasing danger is representing an increasing rate of illegal immigrants in all over the world in various countries, like UK, Italy, USA, France, Middle East and etc. with some serious social, economic and political threats to those countries. Such instability in mostly every part of the world is mainly due to the process of globalization which also follows the dictatorial regimes, political and environmental instabilities among the poor countries in the world.  Also we can say that despite the technological advancement in security systems at the borders to have strict security procedures and checks, the trend is increasing rapidly all over the world. The environmental factors are another major element for the mass movement and displacement of the people which sometimes results in regional and ethnic conflicts among countries and people.

Keeping in view of the above, we can say that the implications of the illegal migration are severe and countless which affects the transit, source and the recipient country in many ways. The good effect of the illegal migration includes the contribution made by the illegal migrants for the support of the economy through tax payments and etc. Also, the illegal migrants provide strength to the economy by brining investment into the country. One of the negative impacts is that the illegal and criminal organizations and the factors cause political instability can use and exploit these illegal migrants for their own purpose.

By considering the above stated facts, it is proposed and recommended that the international community and other relevant institutions must play their role effectively for the stability of every country which can be done by promoting democracy into the dictatorial countries and bringing political and economic stability in to the countries by providing resources to reduce poverty improve their economies.

Works Cited

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