European Task Force on Irregular Migrations – Country report: United Kingdom

Summary:

Irregularity of status, or „illegal‟ migration, has become a significant issue of public interest over the last 10 years. It is argued that the numbers game and moral panic shifted from black communities in the early 1980s to „bogus‟ asylum seekers in the early 1990s, and to irregular migrants in the late 1990s (Clandestino 2008: 18). We argue that public concern over irregular migration results from the tension between the needs of the UK economy for labour migration and the attempts of successive governments to convince voters that they are in control of immigration, and that they only allow inflows beneficial to the country. This situation generates loud and tough discourses on asylum and irregular migration, which remain closely related issues in Britain today.

Regularity and irregularity are social constructions. Immigra- tion policies determine who is and who is not a regular migrant through arbitrarily determined statuses and entitlements, which evolve over time and according to changes in the regulations.

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