Guidelines for Inter-Country Migration Data Exchange

1. Guidelines for Inter-Country Migration Data Exchange

2. International migration is an area of growing concern • Policy makers of sending countries concerned about the impact of emigration on their societies and economies • Policy makers of receiving countries concerned about managing the size of migration flows and subsequent integration of immigrants • Producing valid estimates of the size of emigration is a challenge

3. Benefits of Data Exchange • Provides information missing from regular national data collection systems (e.g. allows for estimation of the number of citizens living abroad) • Provides information about the characteristics and conditions of citizens living abroad

4. UNECE related activities • Task Force on Measuring Emigration (2005-8) • Guidelines on the use of data on international immigration to improve emigration data of sending countries (2009) • Migration Clearing House database (12 CIS countries, 2009-2011) • (2007 conducted pilot study)

5. UNECE Data Exchange Exercise • Task Force on Measuring Emigration Using Data Collected by the Receiving Country (October 2005). • Pilot Project collected and analyzed migration data from 19 different countries. • The countries were divided into 4 clusters representing sub-regions with the following group leaders: Canada, Estonia, Portugal and Switzerland.

6. Task Force on Measuring Emigration Templates Used To Exchange Data among participating countries: Flow Data ▪ country of last residence ▪ country of citizenship ▪ country of birth Stock Data ▪ country of birth ▪ country of current citizenship ▪ country of citizenship at birth ▪ country of birth of parents

7. Example of inter-country comparison of data on migrants Data on flows from Italy to Switzerland

8. Major Findings • In general, for most countries it is more difficult to collect information about emigration than immigration. • Data on flows are in general more complete for destination countries than for origin countries. • Immigration data are not uniform across individual countries as they serve the countries’ own policy-related goals. • Potential for sharing data to improve migration statistics was evident.

9. Conclusions from data exchange exercise • Immigration data from receiving countries can be used to improve estimates of emigration in sending countries • Data on immigration is not always easily accessible by interested users (makes data exchange necessary) • The improvement of the quality of data on international immigration is crucial, regardless of the importance of using immigration data to estimate emigration • Need to develop guidelines for the exchange of data • Consideration of creating a central clearing house for collecting and storing migration data to facilitate the accessibility of statistics;

10. The Guidelines for Exchanging Data to Improve Emigration Statistics (1st draft November 2006, approved by Conference of European Statisticians, June 2009) General objectives • Provide guidance to countries considering improvement of their emigration data by using immigration data of receiving countries. • Draw the attention of countries producing immigration data to the fact that countries of emigration are an important user of their data. • Suggest a role for International Organizations working in the field of data collection on international migration

11. Content of the Guidelines • Emigration data • Different needs and typologies • Population estimates • Estimates of emigrant stock and flow • Short-term emigration • National data sources • Strengths and weaknesses of statistical sources

12. Content of the Guidelines(cont.) • Critical issues when using immigration data as a possible source of emigration data • Coverage of the source • Definition of international migrant/migration • Data accuracy • Availability of country of origin data • Different time references due to status adjustments of migrants • Availability of metadata.

13. Content of the Guidelines(cont.) • Improving availability, quality, and accessibility of data • How to best meet sending countries’ data needs • Detail of available immigration data in destination countries • Dissemination of and access to data: • Standardized tables for immigration data compilation and exchange • Migration Database managed by Intl. Organizations

14. Guidelines-based best practices • Countries seeking emigration data - Prioritise information needs (e.g. specify main destination countries, total emigration vs. specific groups of migrants, etc.) - Explore data availability at destinations - Request customised data sets - Evaluate data received - Develop data exchange protocols

15. Guidelines-based best practices • Countries producing immigration data - Expand details of data published to accommodate information needs of immigrants’ sending countries(e.g. country of origin, country of previous residence, citizenship, characteristics) • Improve access to metadata information • Assess dissemination of existing sources (e.g. census tabulations) • Explore usability of untapped sources (e.g. LFS)

16. Guideline applications • Canada, USA, UK, Italy, Poland, Australia (country perspective) - Expanded the coverage of data on flows from Canada to the US - Enabled analysis of where emigrants moved to • CIS countries (regional perspective) - Allowed for examination of regional differences - Facilitated discussion on data collection methodologies - Lead to creation of Migration Clearing House Database http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/publications/Guidelines_improve_emigration_statistics.pdf

17. Migration Clearing House Database 2007: UNECE Study on data exchange in 11 CIS countries 2009: Guidelines on exchanging data to improve emigration statistics, suggested: a) Set of standard tables on stocks and flows for bilateral exchanges among countries b) Setting up clearing house maintained by an Intl. Org. to facilitate data sharing among countries

18. Background 2010: UN Development Account Project on migration – Objectives included: • Improving migration data quality • Promoting exchange and dissemination of information on migration  Feb. 2010: Workshop in Bishkek (CIS countries) • Agreed to set of 9 tables on basic migration data to be transmitted to UNECE by participating countries

19. Other international initiatives • Other data collection, sharing, dissemination initiatives in the UNECE region: • Joint migration questionnaire (Eurostat, UNSD, UNECE…) (currently discontinued) • Eurostat data collection (EU regulation, incl. candidates) • UNSD Questionnaire on flows (under revision) + Quest. on stocks (census data) • UN Global Migration Database (UN Pop. Div.) (stocks) based on UNSD quest. & other sources • Other initiatives by OSCE, IOM, ILO, OECD etc.

20. General principles • Platform for sharing and dissemination of basic data on international migration • Use tables developed for Bishkek workshop as initial set of data  country of birth, citizenship, country of previous residence, citizenship acquisition, etc. • Start with CIS countries (expand to other countries?)

21. General conditions  The Clearing House should: • NOT duplicate other existing activities • Provide clear added value for users  Conditions for sustainability: • Active participation of countries • Sustainable data transmission procedures and data processing given the resources available in NSIs and UNECE

22. Technical IT aspects Data format: • CSV files produced with Excel Data transmission: • by email (or UNECE downloads from NSI website) Technical requirements: • Minimal: Excel and email

23. Organizational aspects • Identify a focal point for each country • Collects data and maintains contacts with other data producers in the country • In principle, position located in NSI • Develop data transmission procedures and discuss with focal points (UNECE) • Data to be collected by UNECE every two years • New or revised data can be sent by countries to UNECE at anytime, in addition to bi-annual collection

24. Accomplishments in 2011-12 • Created IT infrastructure • Created network of focal points • Finalized 1st round of data collection based on Bishkek tables  • Used data from Bishkek tables as initial input for clearing house • Limited Public release of clearing house

25. Next Steps (2012-13): Migration Clearing House Development Strategy Provide metadata for Tables in English and Russian • Finish inputting table notes • Add information on data sources • Request note clarifications from countries

26. Next Steps, cont. • Data review (complete evaluation of current data quality) • Review of all Country Tables (validity checks) • Identify potential problems and compile list of data for re-submission/verification • Request revised data from countries • Input revised data (and remove data that cannot be revised or verified)

27. Next Steps, cont. • Establish Regular Process for updating Data • Bi-annual database updates (next collection March 2013) • Data request (for period since last available data, last request Spring 2011) • Receive data • Data verification/review • Data upload • Add additional metadata as needed

28. Next Steps, cont. • Data dissemination strategy • Announcement of MCH data availability • Production of analytical reports/briefs using data from MCH • Presentation of data at professional meetings

29. Application to LMIS • Exchange of international labour migration data canbeused to amplify LMIS • Origin countries: Increaseknowledge of where migrants going and occupations theycurrentlyfill; potential destinations for future migrants • Destination countries: increaseknowledge of potential labour migrants in countries of origin