Populations moving in a complicated world. Read more to understand why.

1. !
Promises, hopes, dreams. Every year hundreds of people make every effort to fulfill them, to grab,
even if for a little time, the hand that will rescue them from extreme poverty, from hunger and from
violence which overflow in their native countries. They do this for themselves, but above all to
guarantee a better future for their children and grandchildren. A far future that unfortunately is not
reached by everybody or which turns out to be even worse. But do you know what is exactly
“illegal migration”, who are “migrants” and “refugees”, and which routes do they follow? If you
aren’t able to reply to these questions, here you will found the answers.!
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SUMMARY:!
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1) What is “illegal migration”?
Which are the main types?!
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2) Who are the involved
people? Where do they come
from?!
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3) What are the main the
routes?!
Which are the main points of
entry into Europe, America
and South-East Asia?!
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4) What are the EU actions
and the future plans?!
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5) Data!
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MIGRANTS, REFUGEES AND ROUTES!
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An answer to all of your questions about this topic!
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2. 1) Illegal migration!
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Illegal migration is a phenomenon that refers to the migration of people who pass across national
borders in a way that violates the laws. !
Stricter government laws are imposed on immigration, and people win the right to live and work in
a country that is not their own only after laborious paperwork and documentation. Each country
has its set rules regarding allowing new immigrants within their borders.!
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There are several types of illegal migrants: !
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!- Unauthorized entrants are people who enter
a country without documents, following a sea
route, an air route or crossing the land borders;!
- Fraudulent entrants are people who enter a
country with false documents;!
-Violators of the duration of the visa are
people who enter a state properly, but overstay
their visa.!
- Violators of the terms and conditions of
the visa are people who enter a country with
proper documents and procedures, but at
some point they violate the term of their visa.
The most frequent violation is the acceptance
of employment.!
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Furthermore, it is also important to mention the role represented by the trafficking and the
smuggling of human beings. These two terms are not synonyms:!
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Human smuggling is the attempted transportation or illegal entry of people across an international
border. The person who is being smuggled is generally cooperating and he/she is considered as
an accomplice in the crime. !
In general, the smugglers do not distinguish between refugees and migrants either and smuggle
anyone who can pay. !
Smuggling has been growing in Europe since 1990s, because of the Balkans wars, and later
because of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.!
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Human trafficking is the trade of persons with the
purpose of selling them as sexual slaves or forcing
them to hard work. The victims are often under 18
years of age, and it is almost impossible to escape
for them because their documents are
confiscated. They are enslaved, also subjected to
limited movement or isolation, or brainwashed
through practices like juju, a specific branch of
voodoo.!
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3. !
2) The involved people and their origins!
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There are several types of illegal migrant status. The United Nation defines it, and distinguishes
the illegal entrants between migrants and refugees. !
Refugees and migrants are fundamentally different, and for that reason they are treated very
differently under modern international law. However refugees and migrants are increasingly being
confused, and increasingly being treated in the same way.!
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Migrants are people who choose to move in order to improve the future prospects of themselves
and their families. They always have the choice to move back.!
Migrants may be forced from their homes by floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters.!
Their government is sympathetic towards them, giving them rights.!
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Refugees have to move if they are to save their lives or preserve their freedom. Refugees are
forced to relocate because of the fear of war, religion, political opinion, or beliefs. In most cases, it
is not possible for them to go back.!
They have no protection from their own state - indeed it is usually their own state that is
threatening to persecute them. If they return to their homeland they may be condemned to death,
or an intolerable life without rights.!
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Generally both migrants and
refugee come from an unstable
community, countries marked by
extreme violence, drought, foreign
intervention, political unrest and
corruption. There may also be
abductions, forced marriages,
exploitation and extreme poverty,
w h i c h m a k e p e o p l e v e r y
vulnerable, in particular women,
who are at the bottom of society,
with few resources to care for
themselves and their families. So,
they often accept risky job offers,
maybe far ones, or are very often
trapped into the sex industry.!
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4. !
3) Routes and points of entry!
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Traffickers use a large number of ways to illegally introduce the victims in the countries where they
will “work”. These are the most important ones.!
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- Europe: Most of the movements are from
east to west and sizable gateways into
Western Europe are the Strait of Gibraltar
and the Adriatic Sea, where migrants are
trafficked from Albania to Italy. By land,
migrants from Eastern Europe and Asia pass
through the Balkan route and reach Greece.!
Another significant stream of migrants
moves from north Africa to Italy. Many arrive
in Britain from north France and since the
breakup of the Soviet Union, women from
Russia, Estonia, and Latvia have been
trafficked to Finland, where prostitution is
legal.!
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- The Americas: The United States draw a big number of migrants from Europe but many
trafficking victims from other parts of the world arrive in Central or South America to enter the U.S.
via Mexico. South America migrants are trafficked to work in the Japanese sex industry. !
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- Southeast Asia: Most of the women smuggled in this region are sent to work in the commercial
sex trade, particularly in Japan.!
Much of the human trafficking in Southeast Asia centers around Thailand, where the sex trade
accounts for between 2 to 14 percent of GDP. There is an increase in the number of illegal
immigrants from South Asia and the Middle East who are arriving on the western shores of
Australia, particularly on Christmas Island, close to Indonesia. There are also minor routes from
Asia that run through countries like Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and
Turkmenistan to Russia and Western Europe.!
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On their arrival, the refugees find camps
that are set up to provide aid till they can
return to their country. In the event that
they cannot, resettlement options are
provided in a third country. A total of 17
Countries like Australia, Canada,
Denmark, Chile and others have refugee
quotas and provide resettlement options
in their countries to individuals from
refugee camps. Migrants have to explore
their own settlement options in the new
country.!
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5. 4) Illegal migration and the EU!
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In the last few years the EU has acted to improve plans to fight trafficking and the
business of illegal migration. Here are some of the plans: !
! -Adoption, in 2002, of a legal framework on
smuggling (“facilitators package”)!
-Operational measures to disrupt and dismantle
organized criminal groups involved in the
facilitation of irregular immigration (also
important to know the modus operandi and the
collocations of the routes)!
-Comprehensive approach to counter migrant
smuggling —> prevention and cooperation with
countries of origin and transit and dismantling of
the criminal networks!
-Better assistance for victims!
-Creation of an EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator
who provides strategic policy orientation and
improves coordination and consistency among
actions by EU institutions, EU agencies, EU
States, non-EU countries and international
players addressing trafficking in human beings!
- Launch of an EU anti-trafficking website!
- Sanctions for employers who employ irregular migrants —> protection measures in favor of
workers, especially those exploited by unscrupulous employers.!
- Improving external border controls, also by using information technology (like the Visa
Information System) and biometric features (e.g. fingerprints) for identification.!
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There are also plans for the future:!
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- Strengthening the mandate of FRONTEX —>
so it can act more effectively at the external
border.!
- Establishing an evaluation mechanism to
verify the correct application of the Schengen
acquits.!
- Intensifying coordination between border
surveillance authorities and considering the
feasibility of creating a European system of
border guards.!
- Establishing rules for the surveillance of the
external sea borders in the context of
operational cooperation coordinated by
FRONTEX.!
- Considering the establishment of a European
entry-exit system and considering a
registered traveller program allowing non-EU
nationals to use an automated Border control
system!
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6. !
The EU is also working on a humane and effective return policy, where cooperation
with non-EU countries is absolutely essential. There have been readmission
agreements with several countries: !
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Russia, Morocco, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, the Chinese Special Administrative
Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, Algeria, Turkey, Albania, China, Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of
Moldova, Georgia, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus.!
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Agreements with the two Chinese Special Administrative Regions, Sri Lanka, Russia, Ukraine, the
Western Balkan countries, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cape
Verde and Pakistan have entered into force.!
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5) Data!
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The irregular immigration into the EU is difficult to quantify, but we have some indicators:!
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- In 2013, the number of irregularly staying non-EU nationals apprehended in the EU was about
429 000 (-1% compared to 2012, and -30% compared to 2008).!
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- In 2014, 276 113 migrants entered the EU irregularly (+138% compared to 2013).
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7. IMAGES RESOURCES:!
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Title, Word Map: "SHIPPING ROUTES" BY T. HENGL - Http://Www.Nceas.Ucsb.Edu/
Globalmarine/Impacts. LICENSED UNDER CC BY-SA 3.0 VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS -
Http://Commons.Wikimedia.Org/Wiki/File:Shipping_Routes.Png#/Media/
File:Shipping_Routes.Png!
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Summary, People on the road : "Opening ceremony of new PNC headquarters in Goma
(6988913212)" by © MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via
Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Opening_ceremony_of_new_PNC_headquarters_in_Goma_(6988913212).jpg#/
media/File:Opening_ceremony_of_new_PNC_headquarters_in_Goma_(6988913212).jpg!
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Point 1, Visas: “Passports” by J Aaron Farr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://
www.flickr.com/photos/jaaronfarr/519948326/ !
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Point 1, Chained hands: Licensed Under CC 0 Public Domain http://pixabay.com/it/
carcere-prigioniero-schiavit%C3%B9-162885/!
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Point 2, Gun : "014 PLA Fighters" by Jonathan Alpeyrie. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
014_PLA_Fighters.JPG#/media/File:014_PLA_Fighters.JPG!
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Point 3, Girl and boat : licensed under CC 0 Public Domain, http://pixabay.com/it/mare-
barca-ocean-rifugiati-acqua-412519/!
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Point 3, Refugees’ camp: "South Africa-Xenophobia-001" by NJR ZA - Own work.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:South_Africa-Xenophobia-001.jpg#/media/File:South_Africa-Xenophobia-001.jpg!
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8. Point 4, EU flag: "European flag in Karlskrona 2011" por MPD01605 - http://
www.flickr.com/photos/mpd01605/6755068753/in/photostream/. Licensed under CC BY-SA
2.0, via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:European_flag_in_Karlskrona_2011.jpg#/media/
File:European_flag_in_Karlskrona_2011.jpg!
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Point 4, Boat arrived to Lampedusa : "Lampedusa noborder 2007-2" by Sara
Prestianni / noborder network - http://www.flickr.com/photos/noborder/2495544558/.!
Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Lampedusa_noborder_2007-2.jpg#/media/File:Lampedusa_noborder_2007-2.jpg!
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Point 5, Suitcase and map: “ Globe-Map-Suitcase-Travel-1800x2880” by Wilerson S
Andrade. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/will_spark/
8603567984/!