The focus of this edition of Migration Policy Practice is on border management and irregular migration, with special reference to current developments in the European Union. This theme has risen considerably on the EU policy agenda over the last ten years. This issue of MPP includes three articles which discuss some of the key tenets of the current EU border management strategy. The first article, by Myria Vassiliadou, (the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator at the European Commission), is on ‘Current trends and policies in trafficking in human beings in the European Union’. The second article, by Tony Smith (Senior Director at the United Kingdom Border Agency), is on ‘the UK’s immigration control procedures during the London 2012 Olympic Games’. The last article, by Tony Mercer (a Director of Eurasylum Ltd), is on ‘modern-day challenges of border security’.