EPRS_BRI(2015)554202_EN

Briefing

April 2015

Irregular immigration in the EU: Facts and Figures

Irregular immigrants are third-country nationals who do not fulfil, or no longer fulfil, the conditions of
entry as set out in Article 5 of the Schengen Borders Code or other conditions for entry, stay or residence
in that Member State. In contrast, asylum-seekers are persons claiming international protection due to
the risk of persecution in their home country. For data on asylum-seekers in the EU, please see our Info-
graphic Asylum in the EU: Facts and Figures.
The EU’s legal framework for irregular immigration is scattered over many legal instruments. Those which
apply at the point of a migrant’s arrival focus on border management, and prevention of irregular immi-
gration through cooperation with countries of origin and transit. For further information, please see our
Briefing EU legal framework on asylum and irregular immigration ‘on arrival’.

Detections of illegal border crossings

Frontex, the EU border surveillance agency, collects inter alia data on detections of illegal crossings of
the EU’s external borders by national border-control authorities. External borders are borders between
Member States and third countries as well as betwee3n00030000
SSEwcUhilteaznwegrdelanonedAs)snsaoontcdipatrthoeivdriddCecoofuounrntttrhriieeessr.e(eg.ugl.atNeodrawrariyv,aIlcoeflaansdyluamn22d-0500002200050000 Sea borders In 1 000s 245 S
Land borders L

seekers, so their entry into EU territory is in most case1s50010500 47 14 71 23 60 38
irregular, as they travel without the necessary documen1-00010000 49 22001144
tleagtiaolnbaonrdde/or rcurossesuinngasutthheorreisfeodrebionrcdluedr-ecrboosstihngcaptoeignotrsi.eIsl-,5000500 57 90 70 22001122 47
irregular immigrants and possible future asylum-seekers. 00 22000099 22001100 22001111 22001133

Routes of illegal border crossings (2014) The bar chart shows the illegal border
crossings by third-country citizens via
WAefsrticearn MeWditeesrtrearnnean MedCiteenrtrraanl ean EBaosrtdeernr sea or land routes. In 2014 there was
7 842 170 757 an increase almost three fold, in com-
276 1 270 parison with 2013, due to a large in-
crease in border crossings by citizens of
WBaelsktaenrsn Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea.
The map shows the routes of illegal
43 357 entries in the year 2014. The Central
Mediterranean route (Italy and Malta)
MedEiatestrerarnnean is the most used, with 171 000 detec-
tions - an increase of more than four
50 831 times compared to 2013. The line chart
within each box shows the trend over
AClbiarcnuiala-r Grorueetece the period 2009 - 2014.

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EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Author: Giulio Sabbati and Eva-Maria Poptcheva
Members’ Research Service
PE 554.202

EPRS Irregular immigration in the EU: Facts and Figures

Number of persons refused entry at the EU’s external borders (2014)

Persons refused entry to the EU are third-country citizens who have been formally refused entry to the territory of
a Member State. Each person is counted only once, no matter the number of refusals issued to that person. The
reasons of refusal can be different, inter alia, having a false or invalid visa, residence permit or travel document;
purpose and condition of stay not justified, or other reasons established in the Schengen Borders Code.
The bar chart shows the number of persons refused entry by Member States in 2014. The pie chart divides the refus-
als according to border type.
Spain has the highest number of entry refusals, with 97% of the citizens refused entry being Moroccans coming over
the land border. Data for Poland, Finland, Portugal and Sweden are missing and this is reflected in the total EU num-
ber. For 2013, Poland reported 40 385 persons refused entry. It ranked second after Spain in entry refusals, with a
large number of people coming from Russia, Ukraine and Georgia, accounting for 87% of the total refusals in Poland.
The EU total for the year 2013 was 326 320 persons.

200020000 000 Provisional total number of persons refused entry to the
EU in 2014: 260 375
15200001005000 000
1500105 000 172 185 3% Sea border
16% Air border
100000
LaLnandd bboordredr er
1000100 000 Air border

50000 15 905 81% Sea border

55000 000 13 195 11 365

8 645 IT 7 005 EL 6 445 3 605 3 580 3 450 IE 2 475 BG 1 930 LV 1 825 BE 1 535

00 0 ES UK HU FR HR SI 4 410 DE RO LT EE 695 AT 455 SK 455 CY 425 CZ 330 MT 275 NL 95 DK 85 LU 5

EESS UUKK HHUU FFRR HHRR IITT EELL SSII DDEE RROO LLTT IIEE BBGG LLVV BBEE EEEE AATT SSKK CCYY CCZZ MMTT NNLL DDKK LLUU

Top 10 nationalities of persons refused entry in the EU (2014)

The following infographic shows the top 10 countries of nationality of persons refused entry to the EU28 in 2014.
65% of all third-country nationals refused entry were Moroccan. As mentioned above, data for Poland for 2014 is
missing. In 2013, some 28 000 Russian and Ukranian nationals were refused entry to Poland.

Morocco Albania Serbia Bosnia Ukraine Russia Turkey Algeria US Former Others
Herzaengdovina Yugoslav

Republic of
Macedonia

168 680 14 145 9 315 4 895 4 850 4 535 3 525 2 760 2 640 2 465 42 565

Morocco Albania SerbBioasnia and HerzegovUinkaraine Russia Turkey AlgeriaForUmneirteYdugSotastlaevs Republic of MaOcethdeornia, the

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EPRS Irregular immigration in the EU: Facts and Figures

Number of persons found to be illegally present in EU Member States (2014)

Persons found to be illegally present on EU territory are third-country nationals who have been detected by Member
States’ authorities and have been determined not to fulfil the conditions for entry, stay or residence in that Member
State. These persons could have entered the EU avoiding immigration control or with false documents, or they may
have entered legitimately but have stayed there on an illegal basis (for example by staying longer than the author-
ised period). As the number refers only to ‘detected’ irregular immigrants, it does not give the overall number of
irregular immigrants in the Member States which is estimated to be much higher.
The bar chart shows the number of persons found to be illegally present in the EU28, split by Member State. No
data are available for Sweden, Finland, Netherlands and Lithuania. The breakdown by age group at EU level is also
presented.

115500000000 Provisional total number of persons illegally present in the EU
112200000000 in 2014: 547 335
9900000000
128 290 4% 6% 64% 26%
< 14 14 - 17 18 - 34 > 34
96 375
Age group

6600000000 73 670 65 365

3300000000 47 885 AT 33 055 25 300 BE 15 540 BG 12 870 HU 12 160 PL 12 050 CY 4 980 PT 4 530 CZ 4 430

0 0 HH DE FR EL UK ES IT HR 2 500 RO 2 335 SK 1 155 SI 1 025 MT 990 IE 900 EE 720 DK 515 LU 440 LV 265

DE FR EL UK ES AT IT BE BG HU PL CY PT CZ HR RO SK SI MT IE EE DK LU LV

H

NationaMlity of persons found to be illegally present in the EU (2014)

Most citizeLns found to be illegally present in the EU are from Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan, with citizens from these
countries rLeLpresenting one third of the total. The top 10 altogether represents more than 50%.

Top 15 citizenships

SySryriiaa 84 555 (52 530) Very high (more than 35 000)
EritErritereaa 39 625 (29 545) High (15 001 - 35 000)
AfghanAfigshatnisatann 36 650 (12 900) Medium (5 001 - 16 000)
MoroMocrocccoo 30 920 Low (1 000 - 5 000)
AlbaAlnbaniiaa 30 430 (4 140) Very low (less than 1 000)
PakisPatkisatann 23 255 (3 395) EU28
17 140 (-1 135)
IndIndiiaa 15 755 (1 330) Page 3 of 4
TunTiusnisiiaa 15 555 (3 205)
NigeNigreriiaa 15 235 (1 715)
UkraUkiraninee 14 800 (3 175)
AlgeAlgreriiaa 12 790
SerSberbiiaa 10 430 (575)
Kosovovo (under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/99) 9 710 (2 295)
BanglaBdangeladesshh 9 300 (2 505)
SomSaomlaliiaa
(220)
(725)

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000

Members’ Research Service

EPRS Irregular immigration in the EU: Facts and Figures

Number of persons ordered to leave the EU (2014)

The graph shows the number of persons that, after having been detected to be illegally present in the EU, have been
ordered to leave the territory of the Member State in question. The statistics do not refer to persons transferred
from one Member State to another under the ‘Dublin Regulation’. Data refer to 2014 with values missing for Austria,
Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. In 2013, the Netherlands ordered 32 435 irregular immigrants to leave and
Austria slightly more than 10 000.

110000000000

8800000000 86 955 Provisional total number of persons ordered to leave the
6000600 000 73 670 EU (2014): 397 960
65 365

4400000000 42 150

2200000000 35 245 IT 25 300 14 280 12 870 PL 10 160 HU 5 885

00 FR EL UK ES BE SE BG PT 3 845 CY 3 525 HR 3 120 DK 2 905 CZ 2 460 LT 2 245 RO 2 030 LV 1 555 SI 1 025 MT 990 IE 970 SK 925 EE 475

NumberFoRf EpLerUsKonESs rBeE tuITrnSeEdBfGollPoL wHiUngPTanCYorHdR eDrKtoCZleLaTveRO(2L0V14SI) MT IE SK EE

‘Persons returned following an order to leave’ are third-country nationals who have in fact left (have been removed
from the territory or assisted to leave) the EU territory following an administrative decision stating that they are not
authorised to stay. Persons who left the country in one year might have received the order the year before, therefore
the number of persons who actually left may be greater than those who have been subject to a return decision.
Data are not available for Austria, Germany, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In 2013, Germany reported
19 180 illegally staying persons who left the territory, the Netherlands more than 8 000 and Austria almost 7 000.

5500000000

4400000000 46 610
3000300 000
Provisional total number of persons that have left the EU
(2014): 156 470

2200000000 27 055 19 525

1100000000 15 150 PL 9 280 5 575 IT 5 310 HU 4 345 CY 2 990 HR 2 245 RO 2 085 LT 1 930 LV 1 550 DK 1 400 BG 1 155

00 UK EL FR ES SE 6 630 BE SI 840 PT 820 SK 695 EE 445 IE 345 CZ 320 MT 175

UK EL FR ES PL SE BE IT HU CY HR RO LT LV DK BG SI PT SK EE IE CZ MT

Country codes: Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Cyprus (CY), Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Germany (DE), Greece
(EL), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Malta (MT), Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovakia
(SK), Slovenia (SI), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE), United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland (CH), Norway (NO), Iceland (IS) and Liechtenstein (LI).
Data source: Frontex and Eurostat (migr_eirfs, migr_eipre, migr_eiord and migr_eirtn). Extraction date: data were extracted in April 2015.

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