Applying Differentiation Theory to the Study of Irregular Migration Control – Examples from High-Income Countries

From a global point of view, international migrants represent only 3 per cent of the world’s population and irregular migrants an even smaller percentage within that group. Although irregular migration is a larger phenomenon in developing countries, it is more intensively discussed and observed in advanced states where technical developments have increasingly improved states’ capacities to identify and monitor their resident populations and keep track of travellers with visa databases. High-income countries in particular seek to shield themselves by guarding regular gates of entry and borders more heavily with the employment of improved technical equipment than low-income countries.

This paper offers a contribution to understand why irregular migration occurs, why it is seen as problematic by advanced states and how irregular migrants are positioned in receiving societies. It addresses these questions from a differentiation theory approach. Adopting this framework, irregular migration is mainly a challenge for high-income countries not because they experience more irregular inflows and host more irregular residents than other countries, but because they have more to lose and more to share. This paper will argue that advanced states have to balance different interests and values - influenced by the rules of different societal subsystems – mainly but not only in the field of mobility management, protection of human rights, and labour market regulation. Building on recent research in a comparative perspective, examples from the area of education and trafficking are presented to illustrate the implications and incite a discussion.