Round Table on Migration Statistics

On 26 July 2017, the SCMI Secretariat organized a round table over the subject “Who is considered an immigrant in Georgia?”. The round table aimed at opening discussion with the ultimate goal of improving statistics on immigration and operationalization of the term ‘immigrant’.

The need for studying the international practice concerning the definition of ‘immigrant’, comparing different applicable models and selecting the one which would fit the Georgian context the best occurred together with developing the Unified Migration Analytical System (UMAS) and Georgia’s Migration Profile.

The UMAS comprises the data on entry and staying of foreigners in Georgia for the purpose of improving statistics on immigration and analyzing existing tendencies. It’s noteworthy that, in the future, the UMAS is expected to serve as one of the principal sources for the immigration data required for the Migration Profile.

The representatives of the GeoStat and the Ministry of Finances presented the methodology that they use when defining the status of immigrant (‘resident’ in case of the Ministry of Finances). The representative of the UNHCR talked about the particularities of the status of a refugee and immigrant, and, accordingly, about the different global approaches to keeping statistics. The representative of the SCMI Secretariat reflected on the different methods applied by international organizations and in some countries, and talked about the Georgian practice.

Presentations were followed by discussion and the group work involving the representatives of the state agencies, international and non-governmental organizations, research institutions and academia, to elaborate possible definition(s) of the term ‘immigrant’.

The roundtable was held within the EU funded project “Support to Sustained Effective Functioning of the State Commission on Migration Issues”.