Illegal immigration has been near the top of the political agendas of the member states of the Council of Europe for almost two decades. They are worried about the scale of the problem and frightened that it might exacerbate existing social tensions. This report, which was discussed at the 7th conference of European Ministers responsible for Migration Affairs in Helsinki in September 2002, surveys the problems and offers some recommendations on future policy. After defining illegal immigration, it discusses the organised traffic in human beings and the measures to control and deter settlement. It then examines the particular problems of the enlargement of the EU and Community policy before looking at the underlying demographic and economic trends and their effect on the labour market. The recommendations focus on a desire for a transparent system, which harmonises asylum and immigration policy and allows a positive regulation of labour migration.