Abstract
Purpose: This study examines how African irregular migration to Europe shapes global security and social stability, moving beyond a narrow border-control framing to consider organized crime, human security, and community resilience together.
Methodology: The study adopts a qualitative documentary research design, drawing on institutional reports issued between 2021 and 2026 by the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNHCR, Frontex, and the European Union, together with peer-reviewed literature identified through purposive selection and analyzed thematically.
Results: Findings show that irregular migration sustains transnational smuggling and trafficking economies, weakens border governance through corruption and document fraud, and exposes migrants to death, exploitation, and abuse, while restrictive enforcement measures tend to displace rather than eliminate dangerous routes.
Conclusions: Global security and social stability cannot be secured through border control alone; they require balanced governance that combines law enforcement with employment creation, protection, and regular migration pathways.
Limitations: As a documentary study, the paper does not generate new primary or statistical data and cannot establish causal relationships between irregular migration and insecurity.
Contributions: The paper integrates human security, push-pull, and transnational organized crime perspectives into a single explanatory chain and offers policy recommendations for African and European institutions seeking more sustainable migration governance.