This working paper is aimed at researchers and others interested in understanding and classifying policy and practical approaches to migrant irregularity. Addressing irregular migration has become an important focus within the migration policy field. Policymakers tend to emphasise the need to address irregular arrivals, yet in fact have a wide range of policy responses at their disposal. MIrreM research has highlighted the wide range of policy responses to the presence of irregular migrants, including how policies provide pathways into and out of irregularity (Hendow et al., 2024); this working paper aims to classify them within a typology. It builds on the existing MIrreM conceptualisation of migrant irregularity (Kraler & Ahrens, 2023), focusing on the intersection between the pathways into and out of irregularity and the stocks of irregular migrants.
Released 11 April 2022
As governments seek to address challenges and seize opportunities connected to trans-border mobility, policy debates have identified migration partnerships as integral to achieving progress. The concept has indeed evolved from a mere buzzword to a comprehensive instrument of international migration governance based on widely accepted tenets and numerous concrete tools. The principles are clear: Migration partnerships need to (1) build upon mutual trust and joint objectives, (2) guarantee a fair distribution of rights and obligations and (3) ensure that the costs and benefits are absorbed equally by all parties. Partnership, moreover, must be practised at all levels of migration governance, entailing joint agenda setting, political and technical cooperation and shared operational delivery.