INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION STATISTICS experience from the EU: possibilities and constraints

1. INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION STATISTICSexperience from the EU: possibilities and constraints ACP Capacity Building Workshop Dakar, Senegal 11th April 2011 Ann Singleton School for Policy Studies University of Bristol

2. The context After nearly 30 years since the first EC legislation on collection of some migration data - Regulation 311/76, it was recognised that this legislation and the so-called ‘gentlemen’s agreements for Member States to supply migration data to Eurostat were not producing comparable, reliable or policy-relevant migration data There was a growing need for good quality statistical data on migration and asylum …which was not being met because…

3. The context: problems with the data Problems of quality, comparability and (un-) timeliness, stemming from different: • Sources • Definitions • Legislative arrangements • Data collection systems • within countries and within the same institutions • between countries

4. The causes of these differences • The difference between concepts and definitions used • Who/what is an international migrant? - according to the United Nations - according to each country - according to each data collection agency

5. Time criteria defining immigration examples from European Union countries (Poulain and al., 2006)

6. The causes of these differences • Sources have been created or exist for administrative, fiscal or planning purposes (other than the collection of migration data) • …they respond to various administrative and policy needs of the national administration or government not necessarily to the need for harmonised migration data • Consequently…… • There is no single source of statistics • Data from different sources have to be brought together • NB – first steps, create an inventory of data sources; identify concepts and definitions; produce evaluations of the strengths and wealnesses of the sources; document the quality, coverage and timeliness of the data from each source.

7. How to work with the differences • Know what you are working with: • create an inventory of data sources – distinguish those responsible for data collection, processing, analysis and disemination • identify concepts and definitions • produce evaluations of the strengths and weaknesses of the sources • document the quality, coverage and timeliness of the data from each source

8. What is international migration? • It includes the following categories and concepts • Asylum • Labour • Temporary • Permanent • International, internal • Citizenship (nationals, non-nationals, acquisition of citizenship) • Dependants/family members • These categories overlap in the statistics • Stocks and flows are sometimes mixed • Changes of status are missed

9. Data sources • Asylum applications and decisions • Ministries of the Interior • Labour (work permits/residence permits/visas) • Ministries of Interior and Employment • Temporary (Work permits/residence permits/visas) • Population registration systems, Ministries • Permanent migration (Population censuses, surveys) • Statistical offices • Citizenship • Ministries of Justice and Interior • ‘Illegal’ immigration (Border control, police and immigration data) • Estimates, most migrants enter a country legally • Returns • Ministries of the Interior • Frontex • NB measures of enforcement actions, not the reality of undocumented migration

10. Different types of migration data • ‘Stocks’ • Flows: immigration and emigration (short and long-term) • Asylum • Labour migration • Family reunification ((re-) formation)

11. Data variables Minimum variables needed: • Previous country of residence • Citizenship • Sex • Age • NB The UN uses country of birth as a proxy for international migration

12. Estimating the size and composition of the foreign and migrant population • Surveys in-country • Censuses • Residence permits databases • Population registers and/or registers of foreigners and/or censuses and registers • Administrative sources which may yet be unexploited for migration data • Estimates of undocumented migration

13. Data sources • Censuses • Administrative registers • Population registers • Other administrative databases relating to: • Residence permits/permits to stay • Asylum procedures • Surveys Large-scale national surveys (eg LFS) • Customs data; surveys at the borders

14. Estimating migration flows: data sources – different EU examples • In-country survey • Ireland • Border survey • Cyprus, UK • Customs • Bulgaria • Databases on residence permits • France, Portugal, Greece, Romania • Population registers and/or registers of foreigners • A,B,CZ,D,E,H,I,FIN,DK,NL,SK,S (+CH, IS, N)

15. Estimating stocks of foreign population: data sources • Survey in-country • Census • Residence permit databases • Population registers and/or registers of the foreign population and/or cenusus + register

16. Problems for the users • Incompatability of concepts and definitions • Data quality is often mediocre and coverage is partial • Double counting • Untimely production and dissemination • Unreliable • Lack of transparency and confidence in the data • Lack of reliability, accuracy • Lack of clarity about what the data measure

17. Problems for policy-makers • The difficulty of: • Monitoring the implementation of legislation and the effectiveness of policy • Anticipating and planning for public service provision • Planning for the needs of the local and national labour market • Using information produced for different purposes as a substitute for reliable data on mobility

18. What was the limitation of these measures ? • Diversity of data collection systems • Absence of a single harmonised definition, • Lack of political will • Reluctance of authorities to admit the unreliablity and poor quality of some data • Reluctance of authorities to release statistical data on asylum applications and decisions and illegal immigration • Reluctance of participants in the ‘migration industry’ (policy makers, officials, some academic disciplines and actors) to acknowledge that the dynamic reality of human mobility could not be forced into/reduced to the migration categories in the data

19. What was the (partial) solution ? • Closer collaboration between (and within) Ministries and statistical offices • Documentation of the databases • Funding of projects to correct the databases • With the collaboration (amongst others) of: • Universities • Statistical Offices • Ministries • Research Institutes • Data users

20. What might be some solution ? • Acknowledgement of local and regional differences • Clear documentation of national data • More transparency; more data users; more user feedback • Timely dissemination of compiled, checked and documented data • Regular Public reports (monthly, quarterly, annual) • Use of the internet, simple Excel sheets, online databases • Where appropriate: acknowledgement of the need to introduce legislation on statistics on migration and asylum

21. What might be the solution ? • Knowing the different strengths and limitations of obtaining statistical data through: • voluntary agreements • legislation on migration and asylum statistics • Use of the UN recommendations where possible • Enrichment of datasets, beyond the minimum, according to local possibilities