Irregular immigration in the EU: Facts and Figures

Written by Giulio Sabbati and Eva-Maria Poptcheva

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 Infographic 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 immigration 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’.

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Number of persons returned following an order to leave (2014)

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

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

Number of persons ordered to leave the EU (2014)

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

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

Illegal border crossings by third-country citizens via sea or land routes

The routes of illegal entries in the year 2014

Visit the European Parliament page on ‘EU migrant crisis: facts and figures‘.