Irregular immigration and the role of the EU in recent developments : case studies Spain and Malta

Abstract

Migration has always been a wide-spread phenomenon throughout the world that has affected different parts of the world differently in various periods of time through history. People have found the need to move from one country to another in search of a better life for them and their families. Whole communities in different countries have been established over the years by migration, and today it is an accepted move almost everywhere. If migration had not existed at some point, whole economies could have stagnated, and on a more human level, more lives could have been lost. In the 20th century, countries felt the need to develop a body of international law to make more clear the status and rights of asylum seekers. This began at beginning of the century with the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations. This culminated on 28 July 1951, when a UN conference approved the Convention. Today this is known as the Geneva Convention. This Convention clearly states what the status of a refugee should be and his/her social and legal rights he should receive from that particular country. It also defines a refugee's obligation to that country. Today the main security threat stemming from migration is irregular migration, which is defined as being the entry and stay in a country without permission. Border countries like Spain and Malta are experiencing far worse consequences than inland countries, because of their geographic position, and have pledged the European Union for more financial resources and regulations that do not discriminate against them.