Irregular, unauthorized, or undocumented migration is the practice of crossing an international border without official permission from the authorities. Irregular migration is not synonymous with

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

because irregular travel in order to seek asylum is not a crime. According to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

, "the term 'illegal migration' should be avoided, as most irregular migrants are not criminals. Being in a country without the required papers is, in most countries, not a criminal offence but an administrative infringement". In 1993, the UK

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

ruled that an asylum seeker who had forged papers in order to enter the UK had not entered the country illegally.

References

{{reflist Human migration