Conference of European Statisticians: Work Plan to Improve International Migration Statistics Victoria A. Velkoff Dean H. Judson Edward N. Trevelyan UNECE/Eurostat Work Session on Migration Statistics November 20-22, 2006

2 Introduction CES Work Plan is a cooperative effort of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and International Organizations (IOs) to evaluate the consistency of international migration statistics and to propose recommendations for improving international migration statistics. 3 general problems recognized: –Missing data data on emigration –Incomplete data data on undocumented migrants –Inconsistent data data on temporary migrants

3 Introduction, cont. Framework for the collection of comparable data increasingly important –Policy makers link migration to issues of national security, international relations, and economic development (including health and education) Collection of migration data should focus on the statistical issues The Work Plan’s timetable is intended to allow meaningful reforms prior to the 2010 round of censuses

4 Steering Committee: Australia Canada Eurostat IMF OECD Switzerland United States United Kingdom UNECE UNSD World Bank

5 Ultimate Goal of CES Work Plan Improve the collection and use international migration statistics

6 6 Outputs of Work Plan Metadata inventory of definitions Pilot projects to assess duration thresholds Pilot projects to measure emigration Define residency rules for temporary migrants Harmonize concepts and definitions of remittances between BOP and surveys Propose recommendations to improve collection and use of international migration statistics

7 Output 1: Produce a metadata inventory, including: a)A crosswalk of various (operational) definitions for immigrant stocks and flows b)Definitions of migrants whose were not included in the 1998 Recommendations c)A compilation of current/emerging practices used in NSOs to measure temporary and illegal migrants Target dates: December 2007 Players: UNECE, OECD, Eurostat, U.S. Census Bureau

8 Output 1 a) A crosswalk of various (operational) definitions for immigrant stocks and flows Foreign born Foreign background Country of usual residence Long-term migrant Short-term migrant

9 Output 1 b) Definition of different typologies of migrants not included in the 1998 Recommendations Temporary migrants Labor migrants Circular migrants –People who move repeatedly between different countries Irregular migrants / undocumented migrants

10 Output 1 c) a compilation of current or emerging practices used in NSOs to measure temporary and unauthorized migrants Collect methodology “best practices” from NSOs –Improved strategies to measure “difficult- to-measure” populations Metadata for estimation methodology Definitions of groups Questions asked on surveys and censuses

11 Output 2: Design and administer pilot projects to assess implications of different duration thresholds: Assess the consequences of using different durations (3 months, 6 months, one year) Impact on flow estimates, composition, and net migration Use a small, but representative, group of countries Censuses vs. registers vs. samples or rolling samples

12 Output 2: Design and administer pilot projects to assess implications of different duration thresholds: Target dates: End 2007 Players: Australia and UNECE, Canada, United Kingdom, United States Next steps: –Additional countries –Develop protocol

13 Output 3: Design and administer pilot projects to measure emigration using data collected by the receiving country: Deficiencies in measuring out migration Key questions –Can host country adequately measure change in immigration? –Is change consistent with other data sources? –Is method of analysis portable for use by other countries? UNECE Pilot Project on Estimating Emigration (findings reported Monday)

14 Output 3: Design and administer pilot projects to measure emigration using data collected by the receiving country: Players: UNECE (coordinator) –Group 1: Albania, FYR Macedonia, Italy, Switzerland; –Group 2: France, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom; –Group 3: Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, FYR Macedonia, Italy, Norway, Poland, United Kingdom, United States; –Group 4: Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia. Target dates: Accomplished 2006! Next steps –Finalization of protocols for exchange, guidelines, other comments

15 Output 4: Define Residency Rules: Residency rules for migrants (non-visitors) who are in a country less than 3 months Residency rules for migrants who have been in a country more than 3 months and less than 12 months Definition of temporary workers –Economic/Financial frameworks –Demographic frameworks Target date: ?? Players: ?? Global level?

16 Output 5: Recommend the definition and classification of remittances When is a cross-border financial transaction a ‘remittance’? Define and classify remittances –Accomplished Next steps –Issue paper on harmonization of concepts between BOP and surveys –Expert group meeting? –Global context?

17 Output 6: Recommendations for improving international migration statistics Reflecting the findings from Outputs 1-5 Steering Committee to propose recommendations to improve collection and use of international migration statistics