Demographic Aspects of Irregular Immigrants in Israel

Abstract

This paper focuses on traditional groups of irregular migrants in Israel, especially the various types of unauthorized labor migrants, and to a lesser extent on refugees. Estimates for the sizes of the various groups of unauthorized labor migrants – Palestinians from the Occupied Territories and unauthorized labor migrants from overseas – have been presented using diverse sources and calculations. Their demographic characteristics, mostly age and sex, as well as trends regarding their economic impact on the Israeli economy and deportations have been developed in a concluding part.