Effects of Undocumented Migration for Individuals concerned
| Date | 01 April 1983 |
| Author | W.A. Dumon |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.1983.tb00458.x |
| Published date | 01 April 1983 |
Effects
of
Undocumented Migration for
Individuals concerned
BY
W.A. DUMON
INTRODUCTION
The VIth Seminar
on
Adaptation and Integration of Immigrants is being held under
the title
of
‘Undocumented Immigrants or Immigrants in an Irregular Situation’. Quite
different terms have been and are being used to describe the same phenomenon: illegal
aliens, illegal migrants, clandestine migrants a.0. such, for instance, visa abusers E.W.I.3
(Entrance Without Inspection) as being used in the U.S.A. More and more both terms:
‘undocumented migrants’ and/or migrants in an irregular situation’ are becoming
prominent. This change
in
terminology is not without any social meaning. It is indica-
ting a shift in the defmition of the situation. Two developments can be identified:
a)
The terms ‘illegal‘, ‘clandestine’ and even more
so
‘abuse’ have a negative connota-
tion; they refer to trespassing,
norm
violation or infringing
on
the law. The terms ‘un-
documented’ or ‘irregular situation’
on
the contrary are more neutral and do not bear
these negative connotations.
b)
Secondly the focus changes from the individual immigrant and
his
actions to the
situational context. Focusing
on
the individual implies that the undocumented mi-
grants constitute the target population, focusing
on
the situational context implies
that the problem can be solved by changing the conditions immigrants have to cope
with.
Definition
In 1975, I.L.O. defined as clandestine migrations or illegal migrations those
in
which
the migrants ‘are subjected to conditions contrary to international, multilateral
or
bi-
lateral agreements concerned or to the national legislation’
(ILO,
1976). In 1974,
already
Houdaille
and
Sauvy
referred to the fact that, up to the beginning of this cen-
tury, most movements of population in the world were almost totally free, except for
simple police control at the border
(HoudaiZZe
and
Sauvy,
1974, 725-726). Persons
entering the country without inspection (EWI’s) are equalled with illegal migrants
since it is taken for granted that inspection and immigration control are established in
almost
all
countries.
a)
Undocumented migrants
(Zes
sans-papiers, indocumentados)
then refers to persons
without the necessary documents that allow them into a country (e.g. visa) but who
might have in their possession a lot of other documents
(Rochcau,
1983). In some in-
stances illegal migrants might ‘take care to discard all documents even manufacturers’
clothing tags’ in order to avoid being identified as belonging to a certain nation.
Al-
218
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