1. 1 Essentials of Migration Management for Policy Makers and Practitioners Section 2.1 Migration and Statistical Data

2. Essentials of Migration Management 2 Section 2.1 Migration and Statistical Data Learning Objectives increase your knowledge of major sources of migration-related statistical data at the national and international levels understand the role of statistical data in the policy development process develop your ability to identify relevant statistical data and take steps to collect and use it

3. Essentials of Migration Management 3 Section 2.1 Migration and Statistical Data Topic Titles Topic One: The Purpose of Migration Statistics Topic Two: Identifying International Migrants Topic Three: Key Producers of International Migration Statistics Topic Four: Key Producers of National Migration Statistics Topic Five: New Challenges

4. Essentials of Migration Management 4 Section 2.1 Migration and Statistical Data Terms and Concepts Flows The term used for the unstable and changing portion of an overall population figure Register A system whereby a record is taken and maintained. It may be based on persons entering or exiting a State, or on a record of the State’s residents wherein information is recorded and retained on their vital statistics and residence. Stocks In migration statistics, used to describe the stable portion of an overall population figure

5. 5 Migration and Statistical Data Topic One The Purpose of Migration Statistics

6. Essentials of Migration Management 6 Topic One Involving Governments in Information Management Important Points 1.In most parts of the world, international migration is strongly regulated. 2.Accurate data and statistics on international migration are needed, among others in order to plan for, and provide budgetary support to, the numerous administrative and policy measures that deal with migrants and refugees. 3.Accurate data can correct misinformation that may be current in public debate and policy making regarding migration. 4.Overall information on the population, including immigrants, is needed for collective planning by a society and for its infrastructure: roads, schools, hospitals, housing.

7. 7 Migration and Statistical Data Topic Two Identifying International Migrants

8. Essentials of Migration Management 8 Topic Two Identifying International Migrants Important Points 1.Recommendations on International Migration Statistics have been issued by statisticians of the United Nations, in an effort to harmonize national practices and achieve better comparability among different countries’ migration data (1953, 1976 and 1997)  An international migrant is “any person who changes his or her country of usual residence” (1997 Recommendations) A long-term migrant is defined as “a person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year”, so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence. Short-term migrant is defined as: “persons who move to a country other than that of their usual residence for a period of at least 3 months but less than 12 months except in cases where the movement to that country is for purposes of recreation, holiday, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage.” (Continued)

9. Essentials of Migration Management 9 Topic Two Identifying International Migrants 2.Not much effort towards harmonization and implementation of the recommendations has been made by States, in spite of the existence of the UN recommendations designed to facilitate international coordination in dealing with migration issues. 3.The sensitivity of migration issues may be keeping migration data inaccessible to all but a small group of national authorities. 4.The UN is planning to publish a handbook in 2005 to support the practical implementation of the 1998 Guidelines and accommodating the feedback received concerning the Guidelines.

10. Essentials of Migration Management 10 Topic Two Identifying International Migrants Periods of time and definitions of “migrant” For the purposes of international migration statistics, the short-term migrants’ country of usual residence is considered to be their country of destination during the time they spend in it (Recommendations on Tourism Statistics issued by the UN in 1994) The World Tourism Organization defines an international visitor as somebody who travels to a country other than his or her usual residence and outside his or her usual environment for a period not exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose of visit is other than work.

11. 11 Migration and Statistical Data Topic Three Key Producers of International Migration Statistics

12. Essentials of Migration Management 12 Topic Three Key Producers of International Migration Statistics A number of agencies are active in the production of migration statistics at the international level: United Nations Population Division UN Statistics Division UN regional economic commissions office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) International Organization for Migration (IOM) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Commission of European Communities International Labour Organization (ILO) Council of Europe Eurostat

13. Essentials of Migration Management 13 Topic Three Key Producers of International Migration Statistics Important Points 1.The United Nations Population Division is one of the leading international actors in compiling global migration data, especially migration stock data obtained in population censuses. 2.The UN Statistics Division publishes the United Nations Demographic Yearbook on population statistics. 3.Some UN regional economic commissions are particularly active in compiling and developing migration statistics. 4.The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) keeps track of trends in the numbers of asylum-seekers, mainly with the help of regular collection of figures from national authorities. (Continued)

14. Essentials of Migration Management 14 Topic Three Key Producers of International Migration Statistics 5.The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is gathering and publishing migration data from some regions and on some issues that are not covered by the statistics produced by other agencies. 6.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a body of 30 countries1 whose cooperation and policy development is supported by the Organization in many different areas. In 2004, the OECD produced its twenty-eighth annual migration report “Trends in International Migration”—also called the SOPEMI report. The long sequence of yearly SOPEMI reports provides a valuable time series on migration data, albeit limited to industrial countries and a few transition countries including Turkey and Mexico. 7.The Commission of European Communities intensively monitors migration trends and is active in developing policy responses for many areas of migration of concern to its member States. (Continued)

15. Essentials of Migration Management 15 Topic Three Key Producers of International Migration Statistics 8.The International Labour Organization (ILO) is following migration from a number of perspectives, including the protection of the rights of migrant workers, discrimination in the labour market, and combating trafficking and exploitation of migrant women and children. 9.Other international bodies such as UNESCO, UN Centre for International Crime Prevention, Interpol, World Bank, and regional organizations and regional development banks, all follow at least some aspects of migration and often collect related data. 10.The Council of Europe works in cooperation with Eurostat and the UN in developing migration data collection. 11.The Statistical Office of the EC, Eurostat, publishes regular reports based on migration statistics from member States and accession countries.

16. Essentials of Migration Management 16 Topic Three Key Producers of International Migration Statistics The EU and International Migration Statistics A more homogeneous information base is needed to support the intensified policy development of the EU. Eurostat was a key partner of the UN in developing the 1997 Recommendations on Migration Statistics. In the 1990s, the EU conducted a thorough multi-year assessment to find the most feasible way to organize Union-wide migration monitoring as gathering migration data and related research was practiced by many governments, organizations, and academic and research institutions. These feasibility studies led, in 2000, to the creation of the European Migration Information Network (EMIN), a virtual network whose Web site is being hosted and updated by the department of Geography in the University College in London.

17. Essentials of Migration Management 17 Topic Three Key Producers of International Migration Statistics Data on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) In the special situation posed by Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), data sources may be created in the context of assistance programmes administered by governments and international relief agencies. Although IDPs are forced migrants often in need of similar emergency assistance and protection as refugees, their residence within a country’s borders means that they often fall between the official mandates of relief agencies that are tasked to deal with international migrants (IOM) or refugees (UNHCR).

18. 18 Migration and Statistical Data Topic Four Key Producers of National Migration Statistics

19. Essentials of Migration Management 19 Topic Four Key Producers of National Migration Statistics Important Points 1.According to the UN, there are four main sources of migration data available to National Statistics Offices: Administrative registers, such as population registers, or registers kept on foreigners in the country Other administrative sources, such as databases created on issuance of work permits, residence permits, or asylum Border statistics, derived from collection of information at ports of entry into and departure from a country Household-based inquiries such as population censuses, or other household surveys 2.Problems of comparability arise when national statistics are produced by applying differing principles in different countries to enter data into population registers. (Continued)

20. Essentials of Migration Management 20 Topic Four Key Producers of National Migration Statistics 3.According to the UN: "Border statistics can be considered the most appropriate for the direct measurement of international migration." 4.Population censuses provide good comprehensive information on the legally resident immigrant stocks in a country. 5.Undocumented migrants rarely provide data to census questioning. 6.In countries with no population register, the yearly migration flow figures are computed using sample data collected from tourist surveys or other samples collected on borders.

21. 21 Migration and Statistical Data Topic Five New Challenges

22. Essentials of Migration Management 22 Topic Five New Challenges Five challenging areas for developing statistical data and coordinating inter-agency efforts:  Trafficking in human beings  Women migrants  Migration and trade in services  Data challenges  Projecting future trends

23. Essentials of Migration Management 23 Topic Five New Challenges Inter-agency coordination meeting July 2002 (UN Population Division) Summary of recommendations enhanced cooperation between governments and relevant international agencies in sharing data and information on statistics-related activities further capacity building continued methodological work with high priority given to the UN Recommendations on Statistics on International Migration improved data to support relevant migration research on timely topics including trafficking, remittances, and flows of skilled migrants, including short-term movements intensified coordination between involved international agencies.

24. Essentials of Migration Management 24 Topic Five New Challenges 1.Trafficking in human beings 1.An internationally recognized definition of trafficking in human beings was obtained in 2000 when the UN General Assembly adopted the international Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and two annexed protocols, one on human trafficking and the other on migrant smuggling. 2.Trafficking in human beings has spread to every continent, involving many kinds of severe violations of human rights and human dignity. Trafficking is an under reported and covert crime, resulting in a lack of good information and data on the phenomenon that limits effective measures to address it. (Continued)

25. Essentials of Migration Management 25 Topic Five New Challenges 3.Currently available figures on trafficking in human beings and on irregular migration overall, at an aggregate level, are always estimates. More exact figures, such as those on border apprehensions, prosecuted traffickers, or on victims assisted in various programmes, are always partial samples and are very rarely statistically representative. 4.To develop and improve data collection in this area, the following actions need to be taken: Raise awareness of the importance of having better data on trafficking. Provide assistance to countries to build a capacity for such data compilation, and to ensure that such activity is given priority. Promote more active use of existing sources both in national and regional forums. Increase coordination in data collection among agencies active in counter-trafficking work. Carry out more comparative research on how to assess better uses of existing sources of data, and the possibility of finding further unused sources.

26. Essentials of Migration Management 26 Topic Five New Challenges 2.Women migrants The feminization of migration is one of the current trends in global migration. (46.6 per cent in 1960 to nearly 49 per cent in 2000) Gender segregation in migration statistics is important Female migrants in many regions require special attention, because of the types of jobs they typically occupy and where exploitative and degrading treatment frequently occur

27. Essentials of Migration Management 27 Topic Five New Challenges 3. Migration and trade in services Improving available data has been identified as a priority by the international community in order to facilitate the difficult WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services negotiations on movements of persons related to trade in services. The obstacles to obtaining comparable data relate mainly to the status of the migrant and the time he or she will spend in the host country. Trade in services data on the movement of people has been the most sought after. Other relevant data would be the relative values of trade in the four modes of GATS delivery.

28. Essentials of Migration Management 28 Topic Five New Challenges 4. Data challenges for migration policy makers The availability of migration data is unpredictable and unsystematic. Accuracy, or how well the data reflects reality, can be difficult to achieve due to a host of factors. The comprehensiveness of international migration data depends upon the extent to which data is regularly collected and compiled. Timeliness of data is a crucial factor when crafting migration policies. Comparability refers to the challenge of establishing common migration terminology and definitions among States. The issue of confidentiality is an important consideration in the collection and sharing of data.

29. Essentials of Migration Management 29 Topic Five New Challenges 5. The challenge of projecting future trends It is difficult to produce migration projections or other hypothetical figures that estimate future trends. Eurostat and the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) have shown that the existing migrant stock and economic and demographic variables have an influence on future immigration levels. For more sudden movements generated by conflicts or national disasters, any possible early warning procedures would benefit from scenarios on expected displacements. A custom-made model is needed for each country.

30. 30 Last Slide Section 2.1 Migration and Statistical Data