CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

DIANA CUCOS CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ in a country without the necessary authorisation or documents required under immigration and labour regulations. 36 Also, it underlines the tendency to restrict the use of the term “to cases of smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings”. 37 To summarize, migrants fall into an irregular situation within one or more of the following circumstances: 1. They may enter the country irregularly, for example with false documents or without crossing at an official border crossing point; 2. They may reside in the country irregularly, for example, in violation of the terms of an entry visa or residence permit; or 3. They may be employed in the country irregularly, for example, he may have the right to reside but not to take up a paid employment in the country. 38 Thus, the irregularity can arise for a number of reasons: planning to seek asylum but not yet having formally submitted an application, application for asylum has failed but deportation avoided, application for a residence permit/authorization to stay is still pending or has failed, overstayers from an authorized entry, loss of residence status through no longer meeting, or breaching, conditions of residence, unauthorized entry over national borders or being born to parent(s) without documented status. The ease withwhich the distinct concepts of “irregular migration” and of “irregular migrants” can presented as synonymous continues to generate academic discussion and public debate. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford clarifies the fundamental difference between these two concepts. It defines irregular migration as “a flow of people who enter the country without the country`s legal permission. In contrast, the term “irregular migrants” typically refers to the stock of migrants in a country who are not entitled to reside there”. 39 Similarly, the European Migration Network defines an irregular migrant as “a person who, owing to irregular entry, breach of a condition of entry or the expiry of their legal basis for entering and residing, lacks legal status in a transit or host country. In the EU context, an irregular migration represents a third-country national present on the territory of a Schengen State who does not fulfil, or no longer fulfils, the conditions of entry as set out in the Schengen Borders Code, or other conditions for entry, stay or residence in that Member State”. 40 From these interpretations, the term “irregular migration” refers to the process of migration and to the flow of people, while the term “irregular migrants” refers to the status of people and, therefore, to a category or stock of people. These two concepts are not necessarily linked, and the definition of irregular status may change over time. 41 For example, migrants can enter legally into the EU through a visa but acquire an irregular status if they overstay 36 Irregular Migration. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_ network/glossary_search/irregular-migration_en. 37 Ibidem. 38 Migration Data Portal, Irregular Migration. Available at: https://migrationdataportal.org/themes/irregular- migration. 39 VOLLMER, B., Irregular Migration in the UK: Definitions, Pathways and Scale, The Migration Observatory Briefing, 2011. 40 European Migration Network, Asylum and Migration Glossary 3.0 (Brussels, 2014). Available at: https:// ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/glossary/i_en. 41 VESPE, M., NATALE, F., PAPPALARDO, L., Data Sets on Irregular Migration and Irregular Migrants in the European Union. In: Migration Policy Practice, Vol. VII, Number 2, April-September 2017 , p. 26.

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