Estimates and guesstimates of irregular migration in Northern and Western Europe ‘travel’ freely and uncritically among experts, journalists and policy makers without it being clear who produced them first and how. Their source may not be clear, their direction, however, definitely is: these numbers are routinely used as a means of arousing public anxiety about migration and exercising pressure for policy responses.

In spite of a tough political rhetoric, Germany hosts a considerable number of irregular migrants which leave marks not only in special reports dealing with social and political issues but also in public statistical accounting. Immigration policies are dominated by the idea that the integration of immigrants already residing in the country should be accomplished before more liberal rules for new immigrants could be introduced. In France, the main policies against irregular migration are preventive border control and deportation. In response to these policies new forms of illegal entry and stay are created and the price of illegal travel is increased. This has a number of repercussions, namely the death and injury of migrants and refugees both at and within the borders.

The Netherlands is characterised by a relatively high level of immigration. Each year there are roughly 100 000 legal entries into the country. Immigration policies with regard to irregular migrants were redefined with an emphasis on deterrence, exclusion and removal. This has been tempered lately by the regularisation programme undertaken in 2007.

The majority of irregular migrants enter in the UK legally and subsequently move into irregular status. Only a small minority enter clandestinely. Nevertheless, the dominant and perhaps misleading image of a ‘clandestine intruder’ irregularly crossing a border from France or Belgium, pervades throughout much of the political discourse, tabloid headlines and enforcement agency rhetoric.

The main focus of policies concerning irregular migration in Austria is on prevention (notably border controls), law enforcement (worksite inspections, employer sanctions, detention) and removal. However, as a large number of irregular migrants enter the asylum system and irregular migration is generally perceived as an asylum issue, asylum and refugee policies play a major role.

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