由于地理环境的影响，偷渡一直在澳门的历史上并非罕见的现象。澳门历史上最近一次较大的偷渡热潮出现于1979至1999年间。这一时期大量来自华南地区的偷渡客以各种手段偷渡至澳门，使澳门人口在短短20年间急速上升。面对如何处理这些非法移民的难题，澳葡政府在考量治安、教育、经济、外交等多方面的因素后，采取了管制与赦免两大措施，以应对这一时期的偷渡热潮。

偷渡热潮的出现使澳门获得了大量的廉价劳动力，为这一时期制造业的蓬勃发展提供了良好的条件。与此同时，偷渡热潮的背后与黑社会联系密切，因此偷渡现象也对澳门社会的治安环境以及青少年的发展带来了恶劣的影响。时至今日，澳门的社会仍然受到偷渡现象的影响，社会上依旧存在偷渡犯罪的案例。这一切都足以说明偷渡不单纯是历史问题，而是澳门当前乃至未来都必须要面临的社会问题。

Due to the geographical environment, smuggling isn’t an uncommon phenomenon in Macau's history. The last smuggling boom in Macau's history occurred between 1979 and 1999. Smugglers from southern China smuggled into Macau by various ways, causing the population of Macau to increase rapidly in 20 years. After considering various factors such as law and order, education, economy and diplomacy, the Macau government took two major measures, control and amnesty, to deal with the smuggling boom in this period.

The smuggling boom enabled Macau to obtain a large number of cheap labor, which provided great conditions for the development of the manufacturing industry. But by the same time, smuggling is closely related to the underworld, so the smuggling boom also harmed the public safety and the teenagers of Macau. Today, Macau is still affected by smuggling, and there are still cases of smuggling crimes happening in Macau. All these show that smuggling is not simply a historical issue, but a social issue that Macau must face at present and even in the future.