Statistics on asylum seekers and migrants

Subtitle: Towards more agile social statistics1

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Ljones, Olav

Affiliations: Retired Deputy Director Statistics Norway | E-mail: ola-lj@online.no

Note: [1] Based on a presenation at Eurostat conference “Towards more agile social statistcis” Luxembourg 28–30 November 2016.

Abstract: The number of asylum seekers and international migrants is an indicator of demographic and social imbalances and problems. To monitor these facts is a challenge for international social statistics and there is a need for international co-operation on statistical populations and data collection. Refugees and immigrants are sensitive political topics and there is a need for a professional and scientific approach in international migration statistics that leaves no one behind. A full coverage of the statistical population is particularly important for social statistics. Marginal and vulnerable groups should not be excluded from social statistics. When we are dealing with international or global phenomena like migration and refugees international consistency can only be reached by close international cooperation. In Sections 1 and 2 there is a discussion of social statistics as a module of the full system for official statistics. The definitions of units and statistical population are discussed in Section 3. Data which is a prerequisite for statistics is discussed in Section 4. One aspect is to make a clear distinction between the flow and stock for refugees, and this is discussed in Section 5. In the political debate about immigration and refugees there is a concern for the costs and this topic is discussed in Section 6. Some summing up remarks are found in Section 7.

Keywords: Refugees and asylum seekers, statistical population, flows and stocks

DOI: 10.3233/SJI-171078

Journal: Statistical Journal of the IAOS, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 889-893, 2017