2017
Research report
Political 1
The question of illegal migration
By: Ben Hampshire
Background
Illegal migration is defined as the migration of people across a border, breaking the law of the
country being entered. Migrants emigrate due to pull factors of a country, with the migrants having
an expectation of a better life in the new country. Reasons for migration include unemployment,
economic and social issues, political turmoil and conflict. When the benefits outweigh the risk of
migration, people are most likely going to migrate. However, when reaching the destination country,
people often face issues such as leaving family, being detained, and abuse or contempt by the
native population.
Illegal migration refers to both immigration and emigration that breaks the law of either the nation
being left or entered.
Emigration laws are in place to prevent people moving past the nation’s border. Another way illegal
emigration occurs is through legally leaving and refusing to go back after the nation demands the
person’s return. The United Nations support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights position,
stating that emigration is a human right and everyone has the right to leave any country.
In the past, immigration has been restricted due to xenophobia and to maintain dominance for the
native population. More recently, countries have placed restrictions on immigration due to economic
and social issues such as employment and overpopulation. In 2006 the United Nations revealed
that approximately three percent of all the world’s population are living outside their nation of origin.
The term “illegal immigrant” has been discouraged in several countries as of 2007 with campaigns
such as “Drop the I-word” in the US in 2010 pushing for terms such as “undocumented” or
“unauthorised”.
Migration and increased refugees from the conflict in Syria and neighbouring nations make this a
current issue in need of a solution. Moreover, many more countries are beginning to pass
immigration acts or other action to limit illegal immigration.
Issues faced by migrants
Danger from migration
Death and injury occur in various means of migration. This includes on the United States-Mexican
border where in 2015, 240 illegal immigrants died while attempting to migrate to the United States
from Mexico. The natural causes of these deaths were exposure in the summer season and
drowning in canals and rivers. The other deaths are due to vigilante killings and force used by the
Border Control.
An example of another cause of a large portion of immigrant deaths comes from the Mediterranean
where daily a large volume of people attempt to migrate to Greece, Italy, and other mediterranean
countries from Africa and the Middle East. An estimated 4,900 deaths occur in the mediterranean.
Causes of this include drowning and hypothermia.
Human Trafficking
A serious problem faced by illegal migrants, within the nation or in transit, is being being kidnapped
or tricked into slavery. After entering a country, many are used in factories as save labour. It is often
difficult to find aid due to them being an illegal migrant. One example of this is in Thailand where
Burmese women were trafficked into working in factories or as prostitutes. These woman could not
find help due to them not being able to speak the language and receiving abuse from police.
Another example of human trafficking comes in the United States where there have been know to
have Mexican trafficking victims within transnational gangs.
Along with human trafficking, Western European has faced the problem of sex trafficking of Eastern
European illegal immigrants for decades.
Illegal Immigration in certain countries
China
One primary area of illegal immigration for China is North Korea. Security was implemented at the
border to North Korea to prevent refugees from entering. Illegal immigrants also come from
Mongolia and Africa.
A means of expulsion used by the police in China is encouraging the civilians with a monetary
reward for information which leads to deportation.
Iran
The summer of 2007 started the peak of illegal immigration of immigrants fleeing the conflict in
Afghanistan. The government removed around 300,000 Afghans a year. In recent years, Iran
deported between 20,000 and 26,000 illegal Pakistani.
United States
Illegal migration has been a long debated controversial issue in the nation with the immigration
reform being debated in the congress in recent years. Overall, there are an estimated 11 million
illegal migrants living in the United States. The majority of these are form Mexico, but include
nationalities from a wide spread of Latin America nations. Since the 1990s, the number of illegal
immigrants has risen, surpassing the amount of legal immigrants. Despite this, due to increased
security at the border and more violence on the Mexican side, immigration has slowed more
recently.
United Kingdom
In 2009, between 550,000 and 950,000 illegal immigrants were found to be in the UK. Although
isolated due it being an island, trafficking in Calais, France smuggle migrants into the country. In the
past, the majority of these migrants were Asian and African, however, due to the current migrant
crisis, as of 2015, there has been a large increase in immigration. These migrants are from Syria,
Iraq, and Afghanistan primarily. Furthermore, from 2008, there has been an increase in Eastern
European immigrants overstaying their visas. Other means by which immigrants stay illegally is
through sham marriages. The Home Office estimates 4000 to 10,000 immigrants stay because of
sham marriages. The Immigration Act passed in 2016 enforces migration laws to apply further
sanctions on illegal migrants as well as illegal workers and employers.
Illegal Emigration in certain countries
North Korea
The DPRK employs a strict ban on emigration and controls it tightly. Although North Korea signed
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, they do not follow Article 12(2) which is in
regards to free movement of people. Punishment for such crimes is severe and considered acts of
treason. Those caught can spend between two and seven years in labour prisons where torture and
death is notorious.
Iran
Within Iran, it is illegal for a woman to leave the country without the permission of her husband. This
is the case for any nationality of woman married to an Iranian man in Iran.
Cuba
Before 2013, it was illegal to leave or return to Cuba without first getting permission from the
government. Those who violated this faced a prison sentence of one to three years. Additionally,
discussing emigration could lead to a six month sentence. This was overturned in 2013 with LawDecree 302 which permits anyone to leave without gaining permission. However, the price of a
passport was significantly increased.
Child Support
An alternative use of illegal immigration is present in nations such as the United States, Australia,
New Zealand, and Costa Rica. In these countries, migration is limited to citizens that refuse to pay
child support. In the case of the United States, a person’s US passport cannot be renewed if the
person owes more than $2,500 in child support. Therefore, after the expiry of their passport, the
person cannot leave the country and may be deported from another country for having an invalid
passport.