La Strada Documentation Center

Irregular migrants: the urgent need for a new approach

Document number
2120
Date
2009
Title
Irregular migrants: the urgent need for a new approach
Author/publisher
Migration Work
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Migrant rights; Migration management; Comprehensive approach to migration; Migration policy; Restrictive migration measures, Irregular Migration, Feminization of migration, Economic migration, Labour migration, Free movement, Undocumented migrants; Undocumented labour;
Summary
"...The known presence of an estimated 725,000 irregular migrants in the UK presents politicians and civil society with a challenge which is currently not being met. But the work of independent researchers can tell us much about how irregular migrants arrive, what they do, and the critical issues which their presence introduces. Many workers, trade unionists and volunteers are already developing new services or adapting their work to meet the needs of irregular migrants, and need this information. It should also feed into the development of effective long-term policies to address the causes and effects of irregularity. The aim of this short publication is to separate established fact from polemic and ideology, so shifting the terms of the emerging debate about irregular migrants onto a terrain that is properly informed by the available research. This report identifies some of the key questions that are being asked about irregular migrants, and uses research to provide answers where they are known, and an honest response where they are not..."
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