SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This report responds to rising interest amongst policy makers and the media in the phenomenon of illegal or undocumented migration to the UK in a context of limited research information. It is based on interviews with a sample of 83 migrants detained in one of three immigration detention facilities (Harmondsworth, Tinsley House, Campsfield) between December 2001 and March 2002, and explores these individuals' motivations for coming to the UK, their routes both to the UK and into illegal residence, and their experiences whilst living in the UK, including their means of support, their involvement in the job market, and their use of public services. The report also considers the extent to which this group could be seen as victims of coercive 'traffickers', their experience of detention, and the extent to which interviews with immigration detainees represent an appropriate and valuable form of evidence about the wider illegally resident migrant population.