The purpose of this article, which focuses on how migrants’ countries of origin and countries of transit contribute to the fight against irregular immigration in Europe, is to analyze how these actors intervene in the management of migration flows and border control, and the resulting impact on the rights of economic migrants and asylum seekers, despite their clear difference in status. We demonstrate that the means and measures taken by third countries in the context of the European Union’s fight against irregular immigration not only help foster this distinction between economic migrants and asylum seekers, but also lead to violations of their fundamental rights.