Examining the concepts of human trafficking and migrant smuggling in the context of irregular migration

Migration today is quite different from its past form and needs to be reinterpreted with its changing types and methods. This needed area is the irregular migration part, which is a new type of migration. In this study, firstofall, the definition of irregular migration and its differences from concepts such as temporary protection, refugee, conditional refugee are explained. In this study, the causes of irregular migration were also examined. The connection between irregular migration, human trafficking and immigrant smuggling has been revealed. It has been concluded that foreigners who reside unregistered and illegally in their country of residence may be the first people to be contacted by human traffickers and immigrant smugglers. While examining irregular migration, the situation of irregular migration in Turkey is discussed in detail. Due to its location, Türkiye is a transit country for those traveling to Europe and a target country for those who have given up hope on Europe and those who have an economic advantage compared to their country. In this study, the top ten countries where Turkey is exposed to irregular migration were also examined. It was concluded that majority of people coming from the examined countries are economic immigrants, and a very small number of them migrate for political and religious reasons. In examining the migration to Turkey, the situation of foreigners coming from Syria was discussed in detail. It has been explained that registered Syrians in Turkey are outside irregular migration and that they remain in Turkey under temporary protection and that they can go back to their country after the situation in their country improves. This study is a qualitative study, and the graphs and figures used in the study also contain quantitative data. It is aimed to access the data of legal and illegal immigrants in Turkey with these graphs and figures. In the evaluations made with the data obtained, it was concluded that irregular migration in Turkey was also affected by the policies applied in regular migration and that Turkey should revise its regular migration policy.