DATA SOURCES FOR MEASURING FORCED DISPLACEMENT

1. DATA SOURCES FOR MEASURING FORCED DISPLACEMENT WITH A FOCUS ON ADMINISTRATIVE SOURCES Khassoum DIALLO Snr Statistician UNHCR Regional workshop on strengthening national capacities to improve migration data, Bishkek – 15-17/02 2010

2. OUTLINE • CONTEXT: MIGRATION ASYLUM NEXUS • REFUGEES: A COMPONENT OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION • UNHCR MANDATE ON REPORTING REFUGEES, ASYLUM-SEEKERS AND STATELESS PERSONS • SCOPE OF FORCED DISPLACEMENT • DATA SOURCES FOR MEASURING FORCED DISPLACEMENT • FOCUS ON ADMINSTRATIVE SOURCES • CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

3. CONTEXT • Migration-asylum nexus: UNHCR 10-point plan • Cluster approach: Need for better data • Results-Based Management • Performance monitoring and accountability: UNHCR, Governments and Donors. • Advocacy for evidence based decision making.

4. Refugees 1950 Statute of the Office of the UNHCR 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees States parties shall provide UNHCR with statistical information on the number and conditions of refugees in their countries …. The UNHCR shall collect data on refugees and report. Stateless persons (refugees & non-refugees) 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless persons 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness ExCom conclusions Collection and reporting of information on Statelessness. Internally displaced (IDPs) Request from Security Council/Secretary-General UN reform on IDP issues: Interagency Cluster approach Primary responsibility of collecting information on IDPs lies with Cluster leads. UNHCR is cluster lead for Protection, Camp Coordination and Management and Emergency Shelter. UNHCR’s protection mandate: Basis for statistical reporting

5. ARE REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS? • YES • They crossed international border • Citizen from another country / change of usual place of residence • Duration of stay can be decades in protracted situations • Population accounting perspective • UN Recommendations • What is specific to refugees vs other migrants • Legal perspective (1951 convention, non-refoulement, rights of refugees) international human rights etc. • Different treatment by asylum states • Data protection and confidentiality

6. SCOPE OF FORCED DISPLACEMENT • GENERAL MIGRATION ~ 200 million in 2008 • REFUGEE AND ASYLUM SEEKERS ~ 16 million Jan 2009 (8%) • IDPs (26 million) : 980,000 in the region • Total population of concern in the region: 1,3 million

7. Sources of forced migration data • Administrative sources • Administrative data are routinely collected information as a by-product of the regular functions of an agency or institution but not necessarily for statistical purposes. In the process of its work an organization may record and register information related to its laws and procedures. • Examples: population registers, work permit records, border control data. • Surveys • Household surveys (labour force surveys, LSMS, MICS) • Establishment surveys • Special migrant surveys - UK passenger survey • Censuses (population stocks) • Migration stocks • Refugee stocks • Stateless persons

8. Major admin sources for migration and asylum data in the region • Border statistics (data systems and migration cards) • Population registers (e.g. Moldova) • Foreigners‘ register (e.g. Russia) • Permits statistics (work, residence, stateless) • Registration of forced migration (Government or UNHCR registration records) e.g. KAZ, MDA, TKM • Naturalization statistics

9. METHODS & DATA SOURCES

10. METHODS & DATA SOURCES IN CIS COUNTRIES

11. Evaluation criteria for the data • Accuracy, reliability and validity • Coverage – partial or comprehensive – officially recorded only. regular and irregular migration • Timeliness and frequency • Consistency: • whether definitions, coverage change over time. • Relevance and usefulness • Comparability – across countries & over time; international standards • Access and transparency

12. Key challenges • Scope and Definitions • Asylum migration nexus, national vs international • Terminology: Who is a refugee, a stateless person, an IDP? • Time, location, distance, causes • Main purpose not for statistics • Data sources and triangulation processes • Coverage: Key information are missing • Register updating/deregistration • Sources for triangulation • Data collection methodologies and tools • Lack of coordination between different national agencies collecting data • Data quality • Timeliness in rapidly changing situations • Updating, processing and dissemination processes not adequate • Comparability, scope • Compliance with recommendations (UN, UNECE, UNHCR) • Human resources • Skills and training: Data are collected routinely but not processed • Translation of findings: Poor interaction between the users and producers of data • Data confidentiality – security related • Uses of data for informed decision making

13. Admin sources: Pros • Purpose of migration • Flows • Routinely collected by potential users • Great potential for statistical analysis • Great potential for data sharing • Great support for evidence based policy development and decision making

14. Good practices: Country and regional networks • European / Asian programme on forced displacement and migration • Country level network of data producers and users • Regional network • Data exchange platform (core indicators, website, focal point system etc.). • UNECE Data exchange exercise CIS 2007

15. UNHCR AS A PARTNER • COMPILATION/COLLECTION OF DATA ON PERSONS OF CONCERN (Over 130 countries) • SUPPORT IN DATA COLLECTION • REPORTING/DATA DISSEMINATION (Online database, Statistical Yearbook etc.) • Contact: Stats@unhcr.org