ABSTRACT
Obviously, as yet there are no European migration and asylum policies, and current policies and practices are manifold between the Member States. Still, not merely for arguments’ sake, we can draw as a broad picture two kinds of regimes vis-à-vis uninvited migrants that are prevalent in Europe: the Southern regime of irregular labour migration and the Northern regime of asylum seeking. We should note that the general perception of the (politically) problematic nature of these movements is much less in the first than in the second one. Even though the seriousness of the issues is perceived differently, there is general agreement that restrictive policies are required in order to keep unsolicited migrants at bay. Three types of measures are being employed:
physical barriers, natural or man-built, including deployment of border guards;
administrative external controls in the form of visa and other documentary requirements and carrier sanctions;
internal exclusionary measures aimed at limiting economic, social and other forms of participation.
