Demographic factors of illegal migration: administrative and legal dimension

The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the demographic factors driving irregular migration under current conditions of global economic imbalance, with a particular focus on the administrative and legal aspects of migration governance. It explores the relationship between demographic disparities across world regions, and the emergence of migration flows through irregular channels, which pose serious challenges to national administrative and legal migration management systems. Special attention is given to the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa, where a young and rapidly growing population faces limited employment opportunities, in stark contrast to the ageing populations and labour shortages in developed countries of the European Union. The article examines the «push-pull» mechanism formed by differences in population growth rates, age structures, and economic resources, which encourages residents of economically disadvantaged regions to migrate in search of better life prospects. The impact of climate change and environmental degradation on increasing demographic pressure in densely populated agrarian areas is also analysed, particularly in South Asia, were water scarcity and agricultural decline act as additional drivers of irregular migration. The study pays particular attention to the administrative and legal challenges arising from large-scale migration flows and highlights the need to move beyond traditional control-based approaches towards the development of flexible, adaptive migration management mechanisms. The article substantiates the importance of integrating demographic forecasts and environmental risks into the system of administrative and legal migration policy planning, expanding legal migration pathways by improving administrative procedures, and strengthening international administrative cooperation. It outlines the key directions for enhancing administrative and legal regulation of migration processes.