Title (eng)
What is irregular migration?
Description (eng)
Key points
• This chapter explores how ‘irregular migration’ is defined and why the concept is contested,
showing the tension between using existing categories for measurement and critically
interrogating them.
• It highlights that terms such as ‘irregular’, ‘illegal’, or ‘undocumented’ are not neutral but
historically and politically charged.
• The chapter explains that ‘irregular migration’ may denote different phenomena, legal
status, border crossings, or policy violations, and stresses the need for precise definitions.
• It shows that irregularity is not fixed but shaped by laws, administrative practices, and
political contexts, varying between states and over time.
• Understanding irregular migration requires both snapshots of populations and trajectories
of status change. The MIrreM taxonomy maps pathways into and out of irregularity, while
making visible the limits of classification.
Keywords (eng)
Irregular migrationConceptslegal statusterminologyreflexitivitymixed migrationpathways in and out of irregularitymissing migrants
Type (eng)
Language
[eng]
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Is contained in
Title
Handbook on Irregular Migration Data. Concepts, Methods and Practices.
ISBN
978-3-903470-24-8
Editor
Denis Kierans
Albert Kraler
Publication
University of Krems Press
From page
23
To page
40
Date issued
2025-09-30
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