Abstract:

Migration, which has emerged due to economic, political, religious-cultural and environmental reasons throughout history, is sometimes voluntary and sometimes compulsory. Although migrations occur for different reasons, they often lead to similar results. The target countries, which are faced with irregular migration, are developing a number of political tools and instruments to control irregular migrants. In this framework, as a part of the irregular migration management strategy, the “crimmigration” approach emerged at the beginning of the twenty-first century. On the other hand, due to its geopolitical position, Italy is faced with intense irregular migration flows. In this context, the main purpose of our study is to examine Italy’s policy of combating irregular migration between 2000 and 2015, and to reveal whether this policy has the characteristics of a “crim-migration” approach. For this purpose, the findings obtained through literature review and archive research were analyzed. According to the findings, the laws enacted by Italy within the scope of combating irregular migration between the years covered by the study and the immigration control tools included in these laws are similar to the basic characteristics of the “crimmigration” approach. In this sense, as the research shows, if the tools of the “crimmigration” approach are implemented within the framework of the principles drawn by international law and on the basis of democratic constitutions, it offers important opportunities to countries struggling with irregular migration.

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