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ABSTRACT
The paper aims to demonstrate the impact of illegal migration on the economy of the European Union. Over the past several years, there has been a rapid increase in not only the number of asylum applications but in the number of illegal migrants across the EU area. The paper defines the occurence of illegal migration as a great challenge for the EU and demonstrates different crisis management strategies applied by the EU as the most important response to the specific circumstances of illegal migration. The role of the EU has been represented through the institutions responsible for its migration and asylum policy, the European Council and the Council of the European Union. The process of seeking asylum is explained in detail, on examples of migrants fleeing persecution, war, economic crisis or other dangers. The remaining migrant protection statuses such as subsidiary protection, humanitarian protection and temporary protection are also represented in this paper. The programmes andfunds aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of migration flow management and strengthening the common asylum policy, as well as the common migration policy in accordance with the rights and principles of the European Union, are also represented in the paper. The impact of illegal migration on the economy of the European Union is demonstrated in regard to the labour market or labour force. Illegal migration alleviates labour shortages in certain sectors, such as construction, agriculture and service industries, and generates competitiveness on the labour market. Likewise, it influences consumption, tax revenues and demographic trends. On the other hand, the impact of illegal migration on the social protection system is also shown in terms of the increasing total costs of the welfare state. In conclusion, legal and other frameworks ofprevention and suppression of illegal migration are presented with an emphasis on the spent (material) resources, especially on the suppression of organized crime generating illegal migrations.
Keywords: illegal migrations, asylum, crisis management, common migration policy
1. INTRODUCTION
There is a significant increase in the number of illegal crossings of the external border of the European Union, as noted by the EU institutions. When compared to 2022, the number of illegal migrants increased by 17% and approximately 380,000 arrivals were reached in 2023. There is an increasing and consistent trend over...