Illegal immigration to Europe – and to Denmark. Causes, extent and significance

Illegal immigration to Europe is accorded high priority in the media today. Such immigration has also played a key role in defining European Union cooperation on external borders. Increasing illegal immigration is a difficult issue to deal with and is associated with great uncertainty; it seems to be linked to globalisation in general. However, the topic is not as high on the political agenda in Denmark as legal immigration. This book aims to give a concise yet comprehensive overview of illegal immigration to Europe. Who are the illegal immigrants, and how many of them are there? What economic forces are instrumental in causing these people to migrate? Where do the immigrants come from, and what routes do they follow on their journey to Europe? What conditions of life await them in the affluent Western countries? And what is the significance of illegal immigrants for the European welfare states and their populations? This last topic is analysed in chapters on immigrants’ labour market situation, their patterns of criminality, and their significance for the financial stability of the welfare state. The book also examines various methods of calculating the size of illegal immigrant populations, and it concludes with new calculations made by the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit of the number of illegal immigrants in Denmark.