European Approaches to Illegal Migration in the Mediterranean: An Overall Assessment

Abstract

Irregular migration from the Mediterranean has received extensive attention on the policy
agenda of the EU and its member states over the last decade. Border management in the
Mediterranean remains however a fragmented policy that presents internal and external
challenges. An attempt is made in this article to explore the mosaic of illegal/irregular
migration in the Mediterranean by identifying both traditional patterns and the new trends
and routes that emerged in the last seven years and especially since the beginning of the Arab
Spring. The paper also provides an overall assessment of European approaches to tackle illegal
migration in the Mediterranean by critically discussing the development of European
immigration policy along with the relevant measures and instruments that the EU has
institutionalized and the external policies it adopted for managing regional relations and for
mitigating ‘the push factors’.