MIGRATIONPOLICY PRACTICEISSN 2223-5248

Joint Managing Editors:• SolonArdittis(Eurasylum)• FrankLaczko(International

OrganizationforMigration–IOM)Editorial Advisers:

• JoannevanSelm(Eurasylum)• KarolinePopp(International

OrganizationforMigration–IOM)Editorial Coordinator:

• ValerieHagger(InternationalOrganizationforMigration–IOM)

Editorial Assistants:• MiguelDeLim(International

OrganizationforMigration–IOM)• AnnaLynConstantino(International

OrganizationforMigration–IOM)Editorial Committee:

• AderantiAdepoju(HumanResourcesDevelopmentCentre,Lagos,Nigeria)

• RichardAresBaumgartner(EuropeanAgencyfortheManagementofOperationalCooperationattheExternalBordersoftheEuropeanUnion–FRONTEX,Warsaw)

• PeterBosch(EuropeanCommission,Brussels)

• JuanCarlosCalleros(StaffOfficeofthePresidentofMexico)

• HowardDuncan(Metropolis,Ottawa,Canada)

• NeliEsipova(GallupWorldPoll,NewYork)

• AraceliAzuaraFerreiro(OrganizationofAmericanStates–OAS,Washington,D.C.)

• PhilippeFargues(MigrationPolicyCentre–MPC,Florence)

• LukasGehrke(InternationalCentreforMigrationPolicyDevelopment–ICMPD,Vienna)

• ShahidulHaque(MinistryofForeignAffairs,GovernmentofthePeople’sRepublicofBangladesh)

• MaiaWelbourne(CitizenshipandImmigrationCanada–CIC,Ottawa)

• ChrisHedges(UnitedKingdomBorderAgency–UKBA,London)

• MichelleLeighton(InternationalLabourOffice–ILO,Geneva)

• WilliamMcClure(AustralianDepartmentofImmigrationandBorderProtection)

• JenniferMcDonald(Passport,ImmigrationandCitizenshipAgency,MinistryofNationalSecurity,Jamaica)

• SankarRamasamy(DepartmentofLabour,NewZealand)

• DilipRatha(WorldBank,Washington,D.C.)

• CécileRiallant(EC-UNJointMigrationandDevelopmentInitiative,Brussels)

• NandKishoreSingh(MemberoftheIndianParliament,NewDelhi)

• SimonTonelli(CouncilofEurope,Strasbourg)

• AdrianavanDooijeweert(DutchAdvisoryCommitteeonMigrationAffairs–ACVZ,TheHague)

Published jointly by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Eurasylum Ltd.

A Bimonthly Journal for and by Policymakers Worldwide

CONTENTS

Vol.IV,Number2,April–June2014

IOMtrainscitywelfareanddevelopmentstaffofCadizCity,NegrosOccidentalonhowtousetheIOMVulnerabilityIndexforms(18Feb).©IOM2014(PhotobyAlanMotus)

EDITORIAL BOARD

2

4

8

16

20

30

32

IntroductionSolon Ardittis and Frank Laczko

For a truly European immigration policyMartin Schulz

Working with cities on mobility, diversity and prosperity Colleen Thouez

Migrants or expatriates? US citizens as a migrant group Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels

Can Big Data help us achieve a “migration data revolution”? Frank Laczko and Marzia Rango

Publications

MPP Readers’ Survey

Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE2IntroductionSolon Ardittis and Frank Laczko1

In Europe,weneed to get on urgentlywith theprocessofmanagingmigrationasbestwecan,inaccordancewithclearprinciples,sothatmigration

canbenefitoursocietiesandoureconomies.” Inhisleadarticleforthisissueof Migration Policy Practice,European Parliament PresidentMartin Schulz (until18 June 2014) outlines his vision for the future ofEuropean immigration policy. According to Schulz,the management of the European Union’s externalbordersshouldbeacommonEuropeanresponsibility–notonlyaMaltese,Greek,ItalianorBulgarianissue.National and European efforts should therefore besteppedupandfullycoordinated.Atthesametime,theEUshouldupholdtherighttointernationalprotection,includingbymakingfulluseoftheincreasedEUfundsavailableforresettlement;testingthejointprocessingofasylumapplicationswithintheEU;focusingmoreon the integration of refugees in their hostcommunities;andboostingtheroleoftheEuropeanAsylum SupportOffice. In addition,withmore than430,000asylumapplications intheEUlastyear,andsome national authorities being increasingly testedto the limit, the EU Temporary Protection Directiveof2001,whichhasneverbeenimplemented,shouldbecomeanoptionwhereappropriate.

According to Schulz, it is also important to fightthe causes of migration rather than the migrantsthemselves.TheEUshouldgo further indevelopingpreventive measures and making migration a keyissueinallitsinternationalrelations,particularlywithtransitcountriesinNorthAfricaandcountriesoforiginin theSouthand in theEast.This includes fosteringcircular migration; working on the recognition ofqualifications;focusingmoreontargetedfundingforvocationaltraining;andengagingmorewithdiasporacommunities.

On the other hand, according to Schulz, a well-organized, orderly legal immigration should also besupported,witheach country accepting its shareofmigrants,whoshouldbeintegratedasfullmembersofsociety,befreefromdiscriminationandbeabletocontributetotheeconomy.Europemustgettheskillsit needs due to its ageing population and shrinkinglabourforce,andEuropeanuniversitiesshouldremainmagnetsforthemostgiftedforeignstudents.

The second article in this issue ofMPP, by Colleen Thouez,fromtheUnitedNationsInstituteforTrainingand Research (UNITAR), discusses the role of citiesand regions in facilitatingmigrants’access to rights,benefitsandservices.AccordingtoThouez,thecloseproximityoflocalauthoritiestotheirconstituencies,thatis,theirdirectexperienceofimplementingpolicy,theirpotential to initiatemulti-stakeholderdialogueand participatory decision-making, as well as therangeofskillsthattheyhaveoftendevelopedinspatialdevelopmentplanning,makethemimportantactorson the globalmigration stage. This is also reflectedin the fact that the impact of local government isnow likely to be included in the new SustainableDevelopment Goals, which will emerge fromdiscussions on the post-2015 development agenda.Thouez’s article – which is based on observationsresulting from two years of working with localgovernment officials through the dedicated UNITARtrainingplatformestablishedin2013,participationinclosed-doormeetingswithcityofficials,partnershipswith cities, and conversations with city leaders –provides a range of recommendations for futureaction at the local and regional levels, including inthe context of the firstMayoral ForumonMobility,Migration andDevelopment held in Barcelona from19to20June2014.

The third article, by Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels, Director of the MA Programme inInternationalMigration at the University of Kent inBrussels, discusses a relatively unexplored area ofmigrationpolicy,namely,theintegrationpatternsandneedsforassistanceofmigrants/expatriatesfromtheNorth–inthiscase,UScitizens.AccordingtoKlekowskivonKoppenfels,“inresearchingmigration,itbecomesclearthatmanymigrants–fromtheNorth,aswellas

“

1 Solon Ardittis isManaging Director of Eurasylum Ltd. FrankLaczko is Head of the Migration Research Division at IOMHeadquartersinGeneva.Theyaretheco-editorsofMigration Policy Practice.

3Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

theSouth–donotnecessarilypersonifytheattributesof their countriesofnationality, suchaswealthandstability, and may indeed be in need of assistanceat some point during their migration trajectory. UScitizens are one such group.” Based on KlekowskivonKoppenfels’s empirical research, it appears thatUS citizensoverseasdonotnecessarilyembody thecharacteristics of theUnited States ofAmerica, andmanyhavemovedtoEuropetobewithapartnerorspouse rather than, asmight be often assumed, totakeupjobsashighlyskilledprofessionals.SurveydatarelatingprimarilytoUScitizenslivinginEuropeshowsthatjustover40percentareemployedfull-timeandnearlyone-quarter are self-employed.Many remainin situations of underemployment, often workingwell below their level of education. Klekowski vonKoppenfelsthereforeposesthequestionofwhetherUScitizensinEuropearetheexpatriateswhotheyareoftenseentobeorif,indeed,theyshouldbeperceivedandtreatedasmigrants,includingintermsofaccessto appropriate services and assistance. Accordingto Klekowski von Koppenfels, while establishingtypologies and developing broad generalizationsabout migrant groups are important, perceivingmigrantsfromtheGlobalNorthas“something-other-than-migrants”wouldonlylimitourunderstandingofthemigrationphenomenonoverall.

The last article, by Frank Laczko andMarzia Rango of the International Organization for Migration,explores how “BigData” (i.e. the collectionof largeand complex data sets) might help to improve ourunderstandingofmigrationtrendsaroundtheworld.

The article considers some of the advantages anddisadvantages of using such data and illustrates,throughconcreteexamples,thepotentialusesofBigDataforthestudyofmigration.Thearticleoutlines,inparticular,waysinwhichBigDatacanbeusedtotrackpost-disasterdisplacementusing“calldetailrecords”;identify modalities and determinants of mobilemoneytransfersthroughotherkindsofmobilephonedata;estimateandpredictmigrationflowsandratesthroughthe IPaddressesofwebsite loginsandsente-mails;infermigrationtrendsandcomparepatternsof internal and international migration using geo-locatedsocialmediadata;andanalysetransnationalnetworks and diaspora groups or migration-relatedpublic discourse through social media content. ThearticleconcludesthatwhileBigDataaloneisnotthesolutiontothecurrentlackoftimelyandcomparabledata onmigration, it can nevertheless provide veryuseful evidence on emerging migration trends. ThechallengeremainshowbesttoharnessthepotentialofusingBigDatainthestudyofmigratorytrendswithinandacrosscountriesandhowitcaninformanalysesof the impact of migration on the development ofsendingandreceivingStates,aswellasonmigrants’well-being.

Wethankallthecontributorstothisissueof‘MigrationPolicy Practice’ and encourage readers to contactus with topic suggestions for future articles. We further invite readers to spare a couple of minutes to participate in a survey which we are launching this month in order to help us identify our readers’ profiles, the institutions they represent and their primary interests in our journal. Should you wish to participate in this survey, please click here.n

“The EU should go further in developing preventive measures

and making migration a key issue in all its international relations, particularly with

transit countries in North Africa and countries of origin in the

South and in the East.”- Martin Schulz

Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE4

Migration is one of those big questionsthat call on societies to consider values,humanity,thekindofsocietiestheywantto

buildandtheirpositionintheworldtodayandinthefuture.

InEuropeweneedasoberassessmentofthesituationand get on urgently with the process of managingmigration as best we can, in accordance with clearprinciples,sothatmigrationcanbenefitoursocietiesandoureconomies–andsothatthosearrivingonourshoresaregivenachancetoplayapositiverole.

First,IbelievethatifEuropepridesitselfonbeing“thecontinentofhumanrights,”wemustactonourwordsandstrivetoupholdhumanlifeanddignityinthefaceofthosewhotrample it.Every lifecountsandeverysinglelifelostonourshores–man,womanorchild–isastainonourcivilization.

Second,IbelievethatEuropewillneverbeanisolatedcontinent–afortress–butrather,asIput itbeforeheadsofStatesandgovernmentsinOctober2013,itisacontinentofmigrationandthesoonerwefacethisfact,thebetter.

Third,IbelievethattheEuropeanUnionprovidesclearaddedvalueinmanagingmigration.Howirresponsibleitwouldbetocreateanareawithoutinternalbordercontrolsandatthesametimeleavemigrationtothatareaandthemanagementofexternalbordersentirelyin the hands of individual countries. A continent ofmigration without a migration policy is perfectlyabsurd,andyetthatislargelywherewestandtoday.

Fourth, I believe thatour commonEuropeanactionshouldtakeplaceinaspiritof loyaltyandsolidarity,with fair sharing of responsibility among all 28MemberStates.WecannotcontinuewithasituationwhereonecountryisEurope’slifeguardandanother

is Europe’s refugee shelter, while some others say,“Not inmybackyard!”Noone should forget that itmaybesomebodyelse’scrisistoday,but itcouldbetheirstomorrow.

Fifth, I believe in an orderly, rule-based approachto migration which does everything it can to avoiddrivingdesperatepeopleintothehandsofcriminals,and which ensures consistent decision-makingthroughouttheEuropeanUnion.

Sixth,Ibelievethatmigrationneedsalong-termvisionto cope with our long-term needs. To be specific,thereisaneedto:

a. MakesurethattheEUisabletoattracttheskillswhichitneedsforitslabourmarket;

b. Developnewrelationshipswithcountriesinourneighbourhood based on mutual respect andsharedinterests,especiallyintheMediterranean.

Havingoutlinedthesesixkeyprinciples,Iconsideritimportanttodistinguishanumberofissues:

1. Humanitarian emergencies and the management of external borders

For each person reaching our shores,wewill neverknowforsurehowmanymorehaveperishedtryingtodoso.In2011anestimated1,500peoplediedtryingtocrosstheMediterraneanSea–agrimrecord.

We all have in mind last year’s tragedies off thecoast of Lampedusa. These people left their homesbecauseoffamineandpoverty,warandpersecution;theyhanded their savingsover to criminal gangsoftraffickers and risked everything in the hope thattheywouldfindprotectionandafutureinEurope.Allthey foundwasdeath.Yet thepoliticalwill tomakeLampedusa a turning point in the EU’s migrationpolicyisnotclearinmanyplaces.

Asthecameracrewsleave,thetemptationisalltoogreat to let those on the front line deal with thematter.

For a truly European immigration policyMartin Schulz1

1 Martin Schulz contributed this article as President of theEuropean Parliament, a position from which he resignedon 18 June 2014. He is now the President of theGroup ofthe Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in theEuropeanParliament.

© European Parliament

Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE 5

OfcourseEuropecannottakeineveryone.Butwearetherichestcontinentintheworld.Wecandomore,particularlyifweacttogether,ifwelookforsolutionstogether,andshoulderourresponsibilitiestogether.

Less than4percentofSyrianrefugeeshavesoughtsafety in Europe. Lebanon, with a population ofunder5million,nowhostsmorethan1millionSyrianrefugees. Turkey, on the other hand, has over halfa million Syrian refugees. A single camp in Jordanwhich Ivisitedearlier thisyearhousesonehundredthousandrefugees,andtheyhavejustopenedanewone,withacapacityof130,000.

I believe that the management of the EU’s outerbordersisacommonEuropeanresponsibilityandnotaMaltese,Greek,ItalianorBulgarianissue.Securelyandhumanelymanagedexternalborders– this is aquestion of solidarity, and a European response isneeded.

Thoseateitherextremeofthepoliticalspectrum,whowould rather do away with Frontex for ideologicalreasonsornotprovideitwithadequateresources,aremakingaseriousmistake.Theyare,infact,advocatingrenationalization when what we need is commonaction.Thescaleofthetaskisdaunting,andweareonlystartingtodeveloptherighttools.

Last year the EU set up Eurosur (European BorderSurveillanceSystem)sothatall relevant informationcanbesharedtoformaclearpictureofthesituation.InApril2014weagreedonbinding rules for rescuemissions run by Frontex. This year so far, theMareNostrumoperation,launchedunderthegovernmentof Enrico Letta, has already rescued at sea anddisembarkedaround15,000peopleinItaly.

National and European effortsmust be stepped upandfullycoordinated.Weshouldconvincecountriesofdeparture inNorthAfrica to liaisewithus in realtimeonmaritimesurveillanceissues.Noshipmasterproviding life-saving assistance should be at risk ofprosecution. Lastly, all operations must respect theCharter of Fundamental Rights and the principle ofnon-refoulement.

The management of external borders also has adirect impactonwhathappens insidetheSchengenArea: Recall the Berlusconi–Sarkozy episode in theaftermathoftheArabSpring,duringwhichtheArea’slackofgovernancestructuresbecamealltooapparent.We have changed this. Under my presidency, theEuropean Parliament fought “tooth and nail” to laythe foundation for a truly commonmanagementof

ourexternalborders,withakeyrolefortheEuropeanCommissionandwithtougherevaluationsatexternalborders,includingsurprisechecks.

Where such an evaluation identifies seriousdeficiencies at a point on the external borders, theCommission can recommend specific actions whichmay include the deployment of European BorderGuardteams.Furthertechnicalandfinancialsupportisavailable,forexample,throughFrontex,theAsylumSupportOfficeandEuropol.

Asanabsolutelastresort,whereacountryputstheoverallfunctioningoftheSchengenAreaatrisk,oneor more specific Member States may be asked toreintroducebordercontrolsatallorspecificpartsoftheinternalborders.

IbelievethatourSchengenAreahascomeoutstrongerofthiscrisis,butthenextfewyearswillbekey.Now,either a strong Commission drives the evaluationprocess and is outspoken where weaknesses aredetected, or we risk falling back to a club of peerevaluation.

2. Upholding the right to international protection

TheUniversal Declaration of Human Rights of 1949states that “everyone has the right to seek and toenjoyinothercountriesasylumfrompersecution.”

TheEUhas,forsomeyearsnow,hadtheambitionofsetting up a CommonAsylum System. Last summerwe added important building blocks to this system,namely:

a. We protected children from detention andmadesurechildrenarrivingunaccompaniedareproperlyrepresented;

b. We limited the possibilities of detention andprovidedforalternatives;

c. We provided for quicker access to the labourmarketsothatasylum-seekerscanmakealivingforthemselvesandcontributetotheeconomy;

d. Wesetclearerrulesonhowtoapplyforasylumto make sure that everyone who wishes torequestasylumcandosoquicklyandeffectively;

e. Weensuredthatasylumrequestsaredealtwithmore efficiently, including in some cases byaccelerated procedures, and with clear appealprocedures;

6 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

f. WehavesecuredmorethanEUR4billioninEUfundingoverthenextsevenyears.

Allthisisstillnotenoughtomakeacommonasylumsystem.Howcanweclaimtohaveacommonsystemwhen the level of pressure is not common and theresponsibilities are not evenly divided? When fiveEUcountriesdealwith70percentofasylumcases?When requests produce wildly different resultsfromonecountry toanother?When thesystemfordetermining who is in charge continues to perplexour courts and is perceived bymany as lacking thenecessaryflexibility?

ThenextEuropeanCommissionmustshowthevalueofthesepracticalsteps:

a. Ensuring that the increased EU funds availableforresettlementarefullyused;

b. Testing the joint processing of applicationsby several Member States and the pooling ofreception places – as at any given time, somecountrieswill have spare capacitywhileotherswillbefullup;

c. Focusingmoreonintegrationofrefugeesintheirhostcommunities;

d. BoostingtheroleoftheEuropeanAsylumSupportOffice, not only in training and assistance butalsoinmonitoringthequalityandconsistencyofasylumdecisions.

3. Temporary protection

Withmorethan430,000applicationsforasylumintheEUlastyear–andsomenationalauthoritiestestedtothelimit–wehavetorealizethatasylumisnotatoolcapableofdealingwithmigrationinacomprehensiveway.Itwasnevermeanttofulfilthisrole.

TheLebaneseCivilWarduringthe1970sand1980s,aswellastheconflictsintheformerYugoslavia,Kosovoand elsewhere during the 1990s, demonstrated theneedforspecialprocedurestodealwithmassinfluxesof displaced persons from conflict zones, that is, tograntthemtemporarilytherighttostayandworkinourcountriesuntiltheconflicthasended.

TheEUTemporaryProtectionDirectiveof2001,whichwasborndirectlyofthisexperience,hasneverbeenused. Iam,ofcourse,aware that it is theEuropeanCouncil which triggers the mechanism. However,I also want to underline that it is the Commission

whichhastherightofinitiative.Thesituationonthegroundmustbereviewedconstantly,andthisoptionoftemporaryprotectionshouldneverbeoffthetable.

4. Cooperation with countries of transit and origin

What Ihavebeendescribingtoyousofar isakintosticking plaster. We must go further and fight thecauses of migration, not the migrants themselves,that is,wemustgo further inpreventionandmakemigrationakeyissueinallourinternationalrelations,particularlywithtransitcountriesinNorthAfricaandcountriesoforigin in theSouthand in theEast.ForusandourMediterraneanneighbours,migrationandmobilityshouldbesharedchallenges.

Our partnerships with these countries should bemore focused on encouraging reforms in the fieldofhumanrights,buildingcapacitiesandinstitutions,impartial judicial systems, raising labour standardsandnarrowingsocialandeconomicinequalities.

If we want to make the most of mutual growthopportunities in energy, infrastructure, research,trainingandeducation,wemustreshapeourapproachtomigration.Specifically,wemust:

a. Fostercircularmigration;

b. Workontherecognitionofqualifications;

c. Focusmore on targeted funding for vocationaltraining;and

d. Engagemorewithdiasporacommunities.

Take Libya – which has not signed the UN RefugeeConvention–asanexample.Ithasnoproperasylumsystem. Thus, it has become a fertile ground forhumantraffickers.

Iwant tobuildon theEU’s successesasa leader indevelopmentpolicybyhelpingcountriesonthepathto social progress anddemocracy, and reducing thefactorswhichpushpeopletomigrate.Iwantthemtoseeafutureforthemselvesandtoinvestintheirowncountries.

Ourtradepolicymustcontributetotheprotectionoflabour,socialandenvironmentalrightsby:

a. Insisting on corporate social responsibilityand respect for social standards by Europeancompanies doing business in developingcountries;

7Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

b. Fighting speculation on essential foodcommodities.

5. Legal migration

So far theEUhasachievedvery little in theareaoflegalmigration.WehaveaBlueCardwhosepopularityisquiterelative.Wealsohaverulesforafewspecificsectors like seasonal work, but there is no unifyingconceptandnopoliticalwillofourcountriestomovetogetheronthisissue.

World regions and countries such as Latin America,theUnitedStatesofAmerica,Australia,NewZealandandCanadaallhaveaclearsystemoflegalmigration.European citizens are themselves benefitting fromsuchsystems.

For20years Ihavebeensupportingan immigrationpolicywhichistotallydifferentfromtheoneswhichexist today. I have been saying that Europe is a

continent of migration; as such, a system of legalmigrationwithclearcriteriaisnecessaryforpeopletoworkandlivehereinEurope.Wemustalsobeclearthatthepossibilityoflegalmigrationdoesnotmeanthateveryonecancome.Awell-organizedandorderly legal immigrationmustbe supported instead of irregular migration, whichisuncontrolledandunfair. Inaddition,eachcountryshould accept its share of migrants, who must beintegrated as fullmembers of society, be free fromdiscrimination and be able to contribute to theeconomy.Europemustgettheskills itneedsduetoitsageingpopulationandshrinkinglabourforce.Ouruniversitiesmustremainmagnetsforthemostgiftedforeign students. Finally, Europe must remain theforemosttouristdestinationintheworld–andIwillharnessthefullpotentialofourvisapolicytoachievethis. I want us to vie in the global race for talentby attracting scientists, researchers, informationtechnologyspecialistsandentrepreneurs!n

“I have been saying that Europe is a continent of migration; as such, a system of legal

migration with clear criteria is necessary for people to work

and live here in Europe.”

Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE8

Working with cities on mobility, diversity and prosperityColleen Thouez1

Why Cities are Important

Themaxim“Suddenly…allpoliticsaremunicipalpolitics”(Saunders,2013)holdstrueinthefieldofhumanmobility(ormigration).Thisfactisin

nosmallmeasureinfluencedbythe“largestmigrationinhumanhistory,”with3.9billionpeoplemovingtocity centresby2030 (as compared to309million in1950)(Saunders,2010).

Indeed,withfewexceptionsaroundtheworld,citiesand regions facilitate access to rights, benefits andservices for migrants. The close proximity of localauthorities to their constituencies – their directexperienceinimplementingpolicy,theirpotentialtoinitiatemulti-stakeholder dialogue andparticipatorydecision-making, as well as the range of skills thatthey have often developed in spatial developmentplanning(EC–UNJMDI,2010)–makethemimportantand, as some argue, “lead actors” on the stage ofglobal migration (Maytree Foundation and Cities ofMigration,2012).

Sarah Collinson once described States’ mainpreoccupation withmigration policy as “threefold”:maintaining control over who enters, for how longand by what means (Collinson, 1994). While citiesdonot control entry, theyact aspolesof attractionand, insomecases,havebegunto influencefederallegislationonissuessuchaslabourmarketneedsandskilled immigrant retention. Examples include New

York City’s Blueprint for Economic Development tosupport immigrantentrepreneurshipandtheCityofLisbon’sproject,ProfessionalIntegrationofImmigrantDoctors (Cities of Migration, 2011). Cities are thusinfluencingthediscourseonopportunity–andonthemigrantasbearerofprosperity.2

In describing cities as the first arrival points formigrants, Saunders evokes a window in which cityadministrationshavelittlechoicebuttoact.Hestates,“(Arrival cities) are not just the sites of potentialconflict and violence but also the neighbourhoodswhere the transition from poverty occurs, wherethe next middle class is forged, where the nextgeneration’s dreams,movements, and governmentsare created” (Saunders, 2010). To exercise theirpotential,migrantsfirstdependon localauthorities’abilitytoevaluatetheirneedsandprovideappropriateservices. Cities have thus also become pivotal tothe story of themigrant – a personwith few to noresourcesultimatelyconstitutingalongterm-burdenorshort-terminvestmentincommunalprosperity.

In instances when federal government has stalled,city government has stepped in to governmobility.Benjamin Barber famously portrays cities as “cross-border problem-solvers going boldly where Statesno longer dare to go,” inwhat he calls a “welcomecounterpoint” as “the Nation State descends intoparalysisanddemocraticdysfunction”(Barber,2013).

AtameetingofUSmayorsconvenedbyformerNewYork CityMayorMichael Bloomberg from 25 to 26April 2013, this view was echoed from personalexperiencewhenonemayorstatedthathiscityhadalready implemented its version of immigrationreform,whileWashingtonwasstillfiguringoutwhatitplannedforthecountry.3

2 Prosperity is purposely open to translation and intendedto relate to the concepts of human development and thewellnessindex,meaningthatamonetaryvalueisnotthesolecriterion.

3 Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta, “Convening of Cities forImmigrationIntegration:SupportingandEngagingImmigrantCommunities,”hostedbytheOfficeoftheMayor,CityofNewYork,25–26April2013.

1 ColleenThouezisSeniorResearchandTrainingAdvisorattheUnitedNationsInstituteforTrainingandResearch(UNITAR).ThispaperisbasedonobservationsfromtwoyearsofworkingwithlocalgovernmentofficialsthroughthededicatedUNITARtrainingplatformestablishedin2013,participationinclosed-doormeetingswithCityOfficials,partnershipswithcities,andconversationswithcityleaders.Anyerrorsarethefaultoftheauthor.

A special “Thank you” to Fatima Shama, City of New York(former);ReyKowslowskiandLauraGonzalez,StateUniversityof New York (Albany); Honourable Anna Terron, City ofBarcelona;AnissaAkhandaf,CityofAntwerp;HanEntzinger,RotterdamUniversity;CecileRiallant,EuropeanCommission–United Nations JointMigration and Development Initiative;Salvatore Petronella; and research assistant and colleague,KatoVanBroeckhoven,UNITARandtheWorldBankKNOMADProject.

9Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

Theinfluenceandimpactofcitygovernmentpoliciesandpractices is translating intoaplaceat the tableinintergovernmentalpolicydiscussionsonmigrationand development. Ten years ago, countries resistedthe inclusion of any reference to subnational levelsof government in UN resolutions on sustainabledevelopment. Eight years ago, the local dimensionwasmarginalinthefirsttheannualGlobalForumonMigrationandDevelopment(GFMD).4Today,byandlarge, the impact of local government is consideredinintergovernmentaldiscussions;indeed,itwilllikelybe included in the new Sustainable DevelopmentGoals emanating from discussions on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the UN.5 Duringthe United Nations General Assembly’s secondHigh-level Dialogue onMigration and Development(HLD) last October 2013, a meeting dedicatedto local governments’ role stressed that “localauthoritiesshouldplayagreaterroleindesigningandimplementingpoliciesthatamplifythedevelopmentimpact of migration.”6 Similarly, at the GFMD’sseventhgathering,whichtookplaceinStockholminMay2014, the roleand impactof localgovernmentwaselicited severaltimesboth in relation to labourmobilityanddiasporaengagement.7

Evidenceoflocalgovernment’sroleisfurtherreflectedin dedicated conferences such as the first MayoralForumonMobility,MigrationandDevelopmentheldinBarcelonafrom19to20June2014(seewrite-upintherelatedtextboxonthispage);theongoingwork

4 Local government is nevertheless referenced in theoutcome document of the first Global Forum onMigrationand Development with regard to “enhancing policy andinstitutionalcoherenceandpromotingpartnerships”(p.113),and in relation to “diasporadevelopmentprojects” (p. 106)(GFMD,2007).

5 AsofearlyJune2014,thedraftcompilationincludedreferencestolocalgovernmentunderproposedGoal11:“Buildinclusive,safe and sustainable cities and human settlements” andproposedGoal 16:“Achievepeaceful and inclusive societies,rule of law, effective and capable institutions.” Visit http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/4044140602workingdocument.pdfformoreinformation.

6 PeterSutherland,“OnLocalGovernment,TakingtheMigrationand Development Agenda Forward” at the UN High-levelDialogueon InternationalMigrationandDevelopment,NewYork,4October2013.Moreinformationavailablefromwww.unitar.org/ldp/facilitating-policy-dialogue.

7 SeventhGFMDForumMeetingRoundtable2.2: “Facilitatingpositive development impacts of diaspora engagement inskills transfers, investments and trade between countriesof residence and origin” (Stockholm, 15 May 2014).More information available from www.gfmd.org/docs/sweden-2013-2014.

of the inter-agency European Commission–UnitedNations Joint Migration and Development Initiative(JMDI)8;theforthcomingIOMWorldMigrationReporton cities entitled Migrants and Cities: New UrbanPartnerships to Manage Mobility (2015); dedicatedglobal networks such as Cities of Migration andMetropolis; and thepublicationsof authors suchasSassen,SaundersandBarber,amongmanyothers.

Mayoral Forum on Mobility, Migration and Development

19–20June2014,Barcelona,Spain

On4October2013,attheUnitedNationsHeadquartersinNewYork,duringasideeventoftheUnitedNationsInstituteforTrainingandResearch(UNITAR),theGlobalKnowledgePartnershiponMigrationandDevelopmentand the Joint Migration and Development Initiativeentitled“OnLocalGovernment:TakingtheMigrationandDevelopmentAgendaForward” (UNITAR,2013),theMayor of Barcelona, Mr. Xavier Trias i Vidal deLlobatera, announced that his city would convenethe firstMayoral Forum onMobility, Migration andDevelopmentfrom19to20June2014.

TheMayoralForumassembled30cities fromacrossthe globe, including Ankara, Athens, Budapest,Cologne, La Paz, Fez, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Quito,Paris and Seoul, as well as representatives frominternational organizations such as IOM, TheWorldBank,UNITAR,UN-Habitat,theEuropeanCommissionand civil society representatives, to work on thechallenges and opportunities that human mobilitycreatesatthelocallevel;shareavisionfordevelopingalocalagendaonhumanmobilityanddevelopment;andenhancethevisibilityoftheroleplayedby localauthoritiesinthefieldofmigrationgovernance.

This first Mayoral Forum focused on two relatedthemes:

a. City government: Its leadership role within andbetweencountriesregardingglobalmigrationandmobilitygovernance;

b.Fosteringeconomicprosperityincitycentresandperipheries:The“virtuouscircle”ofmigrationanddevelopment.

8 Migration for Development website: www.migration4development.org.

10 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

At the conclusion of the Mayoral Forum, the “Callof Barcelona” was unanimously endorsed. Thestatement: (a) emphasizes equality of rights, dutiesand opportunities as core bases for a cohesivesociety; (b) acknowledges the central roleplayedbylocalgovernmentsintheissuesofmobility,migrationand development; and (c) reasserts the need forcity leadership and related support by national andregionalgovernmentandotheractors.

TheCallofBarcelonaisexpectedtolaythefoundationsforafuturelocalagendaonmobilityanddevelopment,andserveasan instrument tochannelandenhancethevisibilityoftheroleplayedbylocalauthoritiesinthefieldofmigrationgovernance.TheMayorofQuitohas declared his city’s intention to host next year’sMayoralForum.

Cities as Learning Laboratories

Cities have become important learning laboratoriesformigrationpolicyresearchersandpractitioners,inwhichtimelyobservationscanbedrawnconcerningcurrent integration challenges, practical solutionsapplicable to different city contexts, and inventiveapproachesinthefaceoflimitedmaterialresources.Approaches that national and supranational policy-makinghaveresisteduntilrelativelyrecently,suchaspartneringwithnon-StateactorsandworkingacrossStatelines,arebeingembracedbycitygovernments.

Integrating into what?

Withmorediversecitiesacrosstheglobe,theage-oldquestioninNorthAmerica–andnowinEurope–ofassimilation versus integration is secondary in citieswhere diversity is a central characteristic, judgingfrom their foreign-born: 49 per cent in Toronto,45 per cent in Antwerp, 48 per cent in Rotterdam,60percentinAtlantaand40percentinNewYorkCity.Indeed,foragrowingnumberofcitiespredominantlycomposedofminorities,“thebestintegrationpoliciesareurbanpolicies.”9

As such, city officials have described an approachfavouring non-discrimination and emphasizing

9 HanEntzinger,“ExpertMeetingontheLearningPlatformonHumanMobility,” Antwerp, 9–10 July 2012. Available fromwww.unitar.org/sites/default/files/Outcome%20Document_LPHM%20Expert%20MeetingPLT.pdf.

participation over integration, such that “whatwe do for one community, we must do for allcommunities.”10TheAMICALL(AttitudestoMigrants,CommunicationandLocalLeadership)Report(2012)recommends community messaging on tolerancegearedtowards“tellingthestorytoeveryone.”11Theroleofmedia isnon-negligible. It isnotonlycentraltoprovidingaccurateinformation,butalsotogainingpublicsupportforinnovativepolicies.12Workingwiththe media is particularly useful in highly chargedpoliticalcontexts inwhichdiversity isstillnegativelyperceived.13 AsMortimer (2014) stated: “The battleforpublicopiniondoesnotbelongmainlyinthelawcourts.Butthatonlymakesitmoreimportanttofightit where it does belong, namely, in the media andpublicdebate.”

High diversity is compounded by more circularpatterns of mobility, as compared to traditionalimmigration patterns. City governments musttherefore be fluid and flexible in adapting policy tochanging circumstances, and in understanding therelationshipbetweendifferent layersofnewcomers.InNewYorkCity,forinstance,migrationpoliciesmustadapttoamigrantpopulationcurrentlydominatedbyLatinosandAsians,apopulationwhich,40yearsago,primarilyhailedfromEurope.

The “service-oriented” front-line

Thereisimmediacyandaverypracticalside,service-oriented side, to city governments. With theiron-the-ground presence and experience in theday-to-day realities of increasingly diverse societies,local authorities are on the front line in meeting

10 Ibid.

11 Attitudes toMigrants,CommunicationandLocal Leadership(AMICALL) is an 18-month-old transnational project fundedby the European Union’s Fund for the Integration of ThirdCountry Nationals (European Integration Fund–EIF) underitsCommunityActions2009Programme.Visitwww.compas.ox.ac.uk/research/urbanchange/amicall/#c2211 for moreinformation.

12 The outcome document from UNITAR’s “Expert Meetingon The Learning Platform on Human Mobility: CapacityDevelopment for Local Leaders” (9–10 July 2012, Antwerp)is available from www.unitar.org/ldp/strengthening-local-governance.

13 TheoutcomedocumentfromUNITAR’sLearningPlatformonHumanMobility (LPHM) Course entitled “Addressing publicperceptionsofmigrants,masteringcommunicationstrategiesandpartneringwiththemedia”(15–16May2013)isavailablefrom www.unitar.org/four-corners-world-gathered-antwerp-first-course-unitar-s-learning-platform-human-mobility.

11Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

migrants’needs.14TheDirectoroftheOfficeofNewAmericansintheCityofChicagohasemphasizedhowcity services should help rather than pose a barriertomigrants;thiswould“helptheCityasawholetothrive.”15 A former immigration commissioner forNew York City suggests a reciprocal relationship inwhich“whenyouinvestinimmigrants,theyinvestinyou.”16AnumberofcitiesinCanada,theUnitedStatesand Europe de-emphasize legal status with “Don’task,don’ttell”policieswhichencouragemigrantstoaccessservicesregardlessoftheirlegalstatus.17

On the whole, newcomers have a tendency toassociate more with their municipal identity thanwith thatof thenation.Thismaybea resultof thecloseassociationwithcitylife.18ThereportFreedom in DiversityindicatesthatinBritain,France,Germanyand theUnited States, immigrants andmembers ofminoritieswere found to identifymore readilywiththe city where they live than with the country ofwhichitisapart(Ashetal.,2013).Suchmayalsobearesultofpastexperiencesinmigrants’homelands,especially thosewherecorruptionand State failureresult inapopulacemorereceptivetoworkingwithmunicipalauthorities.19

14 ArecentUNWorldYouthReportoutlinesthemainchallengesformigrant youthnewcomers to cities as: “findinghousing,securing employment, accessing health care services,and adapting to life in a new location…with informationdisseminationbeingacentralcomponent”(UNDESA,2013).

15 AdolfoHernandez,CitiesofMigrationwebinar entitled “BigIdeas: Chicago’s New Americans Plan: Building a Thrivingand Welcoming City,” 5 February 2013. View the webinarvideo at http://citiesofmigration.ca/webinar/chicagos-new-americans-plan-building-a-thriving-and-welcoming-city.

16 Fatima Shama, Former Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs,NewYorkCity,“ConveningofCitiesforImmigrationIntegration:SupportingandEngagingImmigrantCommunities,”hostedbytheOfficeoftheMayor,CityofNewYork(25–26April2013).

17 “Hamilton(Canada) joinsdozensofothercities in (Canada),theUnitedStatesandEuropeby‘re-affirmingitscommitmentto ensuring access to services without fear to immigrantswithoutfullstatusorwithoutfullstatusdocuments’”(CitiesofMigration,2014)andtheCityofChicago,forinstance,hasissuedanordinancesothatundocumentedmigrantscanfileabusechargeswithoutfearofdeportation(CitiesofMigration,2013).

18 AsBarberstated:“…WeareLondonersorParisiansorRomansasamatterofourcorebeing.Citiesarewhereweareborn,whereweareeducatedandgrowup,wherewework,play,prayandcreate,wherewearemarried,havechildren,getoldanddie.Citiesarehome,citiesareus.Citiesaretheessenceofcommunityandtheatersofparticipationandinnovationforallofus”(Barber,2013).

19 Fatima Shama, Former Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs,NewYorkCity,“ConveningofCitiesforImmigrationIntegration:SupportingandEngagingImmigrantCommunities,”hostedbytheOfficeoftheMayor,CityofNewYork,25–26April2013.

If cities are on the front lines, it is with essentialsocialserviceswherethebattlesarefought.Housing(below), health (including psychosocial health),education and law enforcement – these are thesectorswherecityofficialsmustunderstandwhattheneedsareandbeopentoworking inhighlydiverse,demanding and fluctuating contexts. A poignantexample can be drawn from an expert meetingconvenedbytheUnitedNationsInstituteforTrainingandResearch(UNITAR)from20to21October2013,whichfocusedondepartingandreturningEuropeanandAmericanpotentialcombatantsintheSyrianArabRepublic.Mostapparentwhenspeakingwithschoolofficialsistheneedforanopenandholisticapproachtoeducation,valuingdiversityandstudents’differentbackgrounds.20 Children who are made to feel likeforeigners in their own communities would seekout associations elsewhere. Educationofficialsmustfindthemeanstopromotesocialconfidenceamongall school children, rather than denigrating andrepressingdifferentculturesandreligions.

For local authorities, a related essential elementconstitutesworkingwithnon-governmentalpartners,both in thedeliveryof servicesand inpartnerships,toachievecommonends.Thisincludesworkingwithfaith-basedrepresentativessince,inthewordsofonelocalauthority:“Whatyousayonyourpulpitmatters:preachtolerance.”Whatismore,localofficials,suchasthoseinlawenforcement,mustbereflectiveofacity’s diversity. As emphasized by Ash et al. (2013):“Democracybeginsat the local level, and true localdemocracyrequirestheparticipationofalllong-termresidentsofthecommunity”(Ashetal.)InGermany,for instance, the City of Bremen works to recruitmore minority youth for local civil service jobs. InHamburg,thecity’spublicservicedepartmentoffersmore than 500 training posts to youth of migrantorigin in six different occupational fields: generaladministration,lawcourts,prison,police,fireserviceandtaxauthority(MaytreeFoundationandCitiesofMigration,2012:34–35).

Local authorities can play a role in strengthening“intra-community” social cohesion, includingfostering links with migrants’ homelands. Given

20 Meeting documents from UNITAR’s Learning Platformon Human Mobility Expert Meeting on Understandingthe Underlying Philosophies and Psychological Causes ofExtremism, Antwerp, 20–21 October 2013, are availablefrom www.unitar.org/role-cities-preventing-and-countering-violent-radicalization-central-antwerp-expert-meeting.

12 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

that cities are composedofmunicipalities, and thatmigrantsoftenconcentrateinlocalitieswherefellowcountrymen/women reside, transnational linksemerge from communities ofmigrants livingwithinlocalhostcommunities(EC-UNJMDI,2010).Farfromundermininginclusionindestinationcities,celebratingtheoriginsofmigrantgroupscansupportapositivedualidentityinparticularforyoungermigrants.21

“Designing to emancipate”: Place-making for all city-dwellers

Urban planning is closely tied to gentrification andcreatingspaces(i.e.“arrivalplaces”) foropportunityand growth. Focusing on communities withinmunicipalities (i.e. within cities), urban planningstarts with understanding the competencies andhabits of residents, with the recognition that theseareinconstantflux.Increasingly,citiesarelookingathowtoprioritizegoodarrivalpoliciesinhighlydiverseneighbourhoods, going beyond classic gentrificationtools.

Designing cities from a social perspective is beingreinventedincitiessuchasAntwerp,Belgium,whereinrecentyearstherehasbeenastrategyinplacetoensure ”place-making for all city dwellers” (City ofAntwerp,2012).Withinit,migrantsareexpectedtohaveaccesstowhatisneededtoprosper:adequate/appropriatehousing,viableschoolsandemploymentopportunities. Importantly, such plans incorporatelocal talent and interests. In emphasizing thatpolicymakersbecomeawareofthefactthatallmajorcitieshave–and,moreover,need–goodfunctioningplace(s) of arrival, the city government has beencalleduponto:“think,plan,envisionwithcourage…design(ing)(cities)toemancipate.”22

Leadership: Defining a city’s “body language”

Leadership is essential in fostering a processdescribed as “harmonious living.” The AMICALLReportconcludesthatmunicipalleadership,whilenotasufficientrequirement,isaprerequisitecriterionformunicipalities’ support ofmigrants’ rights andwell-

21 ExpertMeetingontheLearningPlatformonHumanMobility,Antwerp,9–10July2012.

22 “A subsequent challengebecomes that of retention in sucharrival cities/communities-so that assets acquired can bepassed along to the next generationofmigrants.” (UNITAR,2012)

being, beginning with how migrants are perceivedinhostcommunities..23Ashetal.(2013)statesthat:“Thefeelingofbelongingtogetherdependscruciallyon the social and cultural signals sent and receivedevery day” (Ash et al., 2013).Onemigration expertrefers to this as a city’s “body language.”24 Signalsare,ontheonehand,embeddedandlong-term,witha growingnumberof European cities likeBarcelonahaving adopted branding to espouse tolerance,inclusionanddiversity,and,ontheother,explicitandpunctual, with the Mayor of Atlanta, for example,declaring:“Ourstadiumsarealsoforsoccer;thisalsosendsamessage.”25

AtanexpertmeetingconvenedbyUNITARin2012onthis subject, onedeputymayordescribed aprocessbywhichacollective identityandsharedvaluesarefosteredthroughthedailylivesofcitydwellers,livingsidebyside,regardlessoforigin.26EdwardMortimerspeaks of “a better common life in today’s diversesocietiesultimatelydependslessonlegalcompulsion,and more on enabling people of different culturesandpersuasionstofeelthattheyactuallyneedtolivetogether,andcandosowithout feeling threatened,becausetheyareallmembersofthesamesocietyandnation”(Mortimer,2014).

“Urban planning is closely tied to gentrification and creating

spaces (i.e. “arrival places”) for opportunity and growth.”

23 FormoreinformationabouttheAMICALLProject,visitwww.compas.ox.ac.uk/research/urbanchange/amicall.

24 Elizabeth Collett, Director, Europe Bureau, Migration PolicyInstitute,UNITAR“ExpertMeetingonTheLearningPlatformonHumanMobility:CapacityDevelopmentforLocalLeaders,”9–10July2012,Antwerp.Theoutcomedocumentisavailablefromwww.unitar.org/ldp/strengthening-local-governance.

25 Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta, “Convening of Cities forImmigrationIntegration:SupportingandEngagingImmigrantCommunities,”hostedbytheOfficeoftheMayor,CityofNewYork,25–26April2013.

26 Ludo Van Campenhout, “Expert Meeting on the LearningPlatformonHumanMobility,”Antwerp,9–10July2012.Theoutcome document is available from www.unitar.org/sites/default/files/Outcome%20Document_LPHM%20Expert%20MeetingPLT.pdf.

13Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

Leadership: Challenges

Beyondvision,leadershiprequiressupport.Externally,a non-negligible challenge for cities isworkingwithrelatedfederalandregionalpowersincasesof“openlyhostileenvironments,”suchasforthecitiesofAtlantaand Phoenix – highly cosmopolitan cities in highlyconservative states.27 City leaders are implementingtheirownpoliciesasindicatedaboveofferingservicesregardless of legal status, for example, preparinginfrastructure for anticipated changes in federallegislation(intheUnitedStates,regardingtheDreamActoranamendedversionthereof),28andbecomingtheir own interlocutors beyond national borders,meetingwith the executive branch of far-off placeson issues such as foreign labour recruitment andeducation programmes. Nevertheless, strife andopposingobjectivesbetweencitiesandotherlayersofgovernmentontheissueofdiversity(andimmigrationmorebroadly)cancounteraims29andalsohamstringessentialfundingsources.

Internally, while themeans may change, the visionof harmonious living must be embedded in thebureaucracy, such that city leaders endorsing thisprocess are supported by technical staff that bothunderstand this vision and are open to adaptingpolicies to foster it.30 In turn,bureaucratsmustalso

27 It is important to point out that many regional authoritiesfoster diversity and indeed are supportive of related cities’efforts in this regard. The State of New York, for instance,has created the Office for New Americans, which assistsnewcomers with learning English, preparing them for thecitizenship examinations, and helping them start and growbusinesses so they can fully participate inNew York State’scivicandeconomiclife.

28 KasimReed,MayorofAtlanta,hasstated:“Weareembracinginfrastructure now locally, so that when (federal) lawsare passed we are ready,” at the “Convening of Cities forImmigrationIntegration:SupportingandEngagingImmigrantCommunities,”hostedbytheOfficeoftheMayor,CityofNewYork,25–26April2013.

29 A stark example is the City of Phoenix’s attitude towardsundocumented migrants, and that of the State ofArizona’s controversial immigration enforcement law,“Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe NeighborhoodsAct,”whichrequiresstateandlocallawenforcementagenciesto check the immigration statusof individuals itencountersand makes it a state crime for non-citizens to fail to carryproper immigration documentation. Another unrelated,but nevertheless illustrative example, also from the CityofPhoenix, is itsbuy-backpolicy forguns,withtheStateofArizonasummarilyre-sellingthemtoArizonians.

30 As argued elsewhere, success in influencingwhether publicadministrations really getbehindapro-migrant agenda (i.e.enabling policies for migrants) also depends on buildingempathy. See: Thouez, “Human Development and HumanRights: Challenges for International Migration Policies,”FourthInternationalForumonMigrationandPeace,NewYorkUniversityLawSchool,20–21June2013.

be supported in situations where leadership is lessopen todiversity and/orwhere a sudden change inleadershipbringsonamorenegativestancetowardsdiversity.Facedwithheightenedbordersecurityandeconomic downturns, among others, one mayor’semphasisisoncourage,thatis,“maintainingenoughpoliticalcapitaltomaketherightpolicydecisions;wemustbelieveinordertomakethepoliticalsacrificesrequired.”31Similarly,theMayorofAthensatthe2013UNHLD stressed that his country is “in theprocessof redefining their (its) place in the world and inthe international economy. This has been a painfulprocess,butalsoacriticalturningpoint,atwhichlocalgovernments and cities have a crucial role to play:upholding human rights, promoting tolerance andmulti-ethnic integration, aswell as stimulating localeconomicgrowth.”32

Recommendations

In Cities

a. Host “Heritage/Diversity” Day at City Hall forcommunity leaders, public officials, exemplaryyouth,schoolattendants,andsoon.

b. Opena“WelcomingCentre.”33

c. Workonliteracyandlanguageaccess.d. Workwithin school systems to “smoothen the

pathway.”e. Reservespecialattentionandinteresttomigrant

youth.f. Reserve special attention and interest to the

specificneedsofrefugees.

31 Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta, “Convening of Cities forImmigrationIntegration:SupportingandEngagingImmigrantCommunities,”hostedbytheOfficeoftheMayor,CityofNewYork,25–26April2013.

32 GeorgiosKaminis,MayorofAthens,“OnLocalGovernment,Taking the Migration and Development Agenda Forward”(UN High-level Dialogue on International Migration andDevelopment,NewYork,4October2013).Moreinformationavailable from www.unitar.org/ldp/facilitating-policy-dialogue.

33 OneexampleisthatoftheOfficeforNewAmericansforNewYorkState,whichwasestablishedin2013,andgoesbeyondthe role of coordinating services, to actual provision anddeliveryofservicesthatarefreeandregardlessoflegalstatus.Operatingthroughanetworkof“opportunitycentres” in27citiesacrossNewYorkState,ithasserviced30,000migrantssince 2013. Each of these centres is hosted in establishedneighbourhood-based organizations. Another example is inMichigan State,whichhas recently opened a similarOffice,focusingonhelpinghigh-skilledimmigrantsenterthecareerfieldinwhichtheystudiedintheirhomecountry.(Somecitieshaveexpandedtheconceptofthewelcomingcentretoonethatalsoaddressesservicesrequiredforreturn.)

14 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

For Cities

a. Facilitateaccesstorelevantpolicysettingswheredecisionsondiversityaretaken.

b. Allowavoiceindecisionspertainingtodiversitythatwillhaveanimpactonthelocallevel.

c. Createinfrastructureforregularcommunicationbetweenmigrantcommunities,serviceprovidersandtheirlocalgovernment.

d. Enact favourable legislative contexts thatfacilitatetheprocessofintegrationanddiversity.

e. Provide support in takingactionagainst racismandxenophobia.

f. Extendmaterialassistance,includingfundingforlocalpolicyactionssupportingdiversity.34n

References

Ash,T.G.,E.MortimerandK.Oktem2013 Lesson 6: Cities and Local Communities.

In: Freedom in Diversity: Ten Lessons for Public Policy from Britain, Canada, France, Germany and the United States.DahrendorfProgramme for the Study of Freedom,Oxford.Availablefromwww.sant.ox.ac.uk/esc/FreedomRev10.pdf.

Barber,B.2013 “Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities.”

The Huffington Post, 1 November 2013.Available from www.huffingtonpost.com/benjamin-r-barber/dysfunctional-nations_b_4192366.html.

34 Extracts from “Call of Barcelona,” endorsed by citiesparticipatingintheMayoralForumonMobility,MigrationandDevelopment,Barcelona,19–20June2014.

CitiesofMigration2011 No more doctors as stone masons!

Recognition of the qualifications ofimmigrant doctors and nurses. Cities of Migration: Good Ideas in Integration,16 February. Available from http://citiesofmigration.ca/good_idea/no-more-doctors-as-stone-masons.

2013 Big ideas: Chicago’s New Americans Plan:Building a thriving and welcoming city.Cities of Migration: Learning Exchange,5 February. Available from http://citiesofmigration.ca/webinar/chicagos-new-americans-plan-building-a-thriving-and-welcoming-city.

2014 Hamilton – The last sanctuary city.Cities of Migration: Conversations in Integration, 2 June. Available fromhttp://c i t iesofmigrat ion.ca/ez ine_stor ies/hamilton-the-latest-sanctuary-city.

CityofAntwerp2012 Urban Development in Antwerp: Designing

Antwerp. Available fromwww.antwerpen.be/docs/Stad/Stadsvernieuwing/9746949_urbandevelopment_English.pdf.

CityofNewYork2012 A Blueprint for Immigrant Integration:

Economic Development. Available fromwww.nyc.gov/html/imm/downloads/pdf/Blueprints/BII-Economic-Development.pdf.

Collinson,S.1994 Europe and International Migration.

Pinter Publishers for Royal Institute ofInternationalAffairs,London.

EuropeanCommission–UnitedNationsJointMigrationandDevelopmentInitiative(EC–UNJMDI)

2010 From Migration to Development: LessonsDrawn from the Experience of LocalAuthorities.Report,EC–UNJMDI.Availablefrom www.migration4development.org/content/migration-development-lessons-drawn-experience-local-authorities.

15Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

GlobalForumonMigrationandDevelopment(GFMD)2007 Report of the first meeting of the Global

Forum on Migration and Development:Belgium, July 9–11, 2007. EtablissementsEmileBruylant,S.A.,Brussels.

MaytreeFoundationandCitiesofMigration2012 Good Ideas from Successful Cities:

Municipal Leadership in Immigrant Integration.Maytree Foundation, Toronto.Available from http://citiesofmigration.ca/publications/#sthash.Jn6lVLPN.dpuf.

Mortimer,E.2014 “Is Diversity a Threat to Freedom?”Cities

of Migration,2June.Availablefromhttp://citiesofmigration.ca/ezine_stories/is-diversity-a-threat-to-freedom.

Saunders,D.2010 Arrival Cities: How the Largest Migration

in History is Shaping our World. WilliamHeinemann,London.

2013 “Suddenly, all politics is municipal.” The Globe and Mail, 20 July. Available fromwww.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/sudden ly-a l l -po l i t i c s - i s -munic ipa l /article13319338.

UnitedNationsDepartment of Economic and SocialAffairs(UNDESA)

2013 World Youth Report: Youth and Migration. UN DESA, New York. Available fromwww.un.org /en/development/desa/publications/world-youth-report.html.

United Nations Institute for Training and Research(UNITAR)

2012 Expert meeting on The Learning PlatformonHumanMobility:Capacitydevelopmentfor local leaders,9-10July2012.Outcomedocument.Availablefromwww.unitar.org/ldp/strengthening-local-governance.

2013 “Barcelona AnnouncesMayoral Forum onMobility, Migration and Development.”UNITAR Latest News, 4 October. Availablefrom www.unitar.org/barcelona-announc-es-mayoral-forum-mobility-migration-and-development.

Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE16

Might an expatriate be in need of assistance from IOM?

IOM seeks to provide assistance to migrants inneed. This assistance is often broadly assumedto be provided to South–North migrants, while

those from the Global North – often referred to as“expatriates” – are, on the other hand, assumed torarely,ifever,beinneedofassistance.Thisassumptionmayneedtobere-examined.Inresearchingmigration,itbecomesclearthatmanymigrants–fromtheNorth,aswell as the South – do not necessarily personifyattributes typically associated with their countriesofnationality, suchaswealthandstability,andmayindeedbeinneedofassistanceatsomepointduringtheirmigration trajectory.US citizens2 are one suchgroup.

Estimatedatsomewherebetween2.2and7.6million,overseas Americans are a larger group than oftenthought (Klekowski von Koppenfels and Costanzo,2013), corresponding to between 0.8 and 2.6 percent of the domestic US citizen population. TheseAmericans have migrated to be with a partner orspouse,searchforemployment,studyandmore.SomewerebornabroadtoUScitizenparents–theUnitedStates’jussolicitizenshippolicyisaccompaniedbyajussanguiniscomponent.Aclose lookatUScitizensoverseasrevealsthattheyareadiversegroupandthatthereis,perhaps,no“typical”overseasAmerican.

It is perhaps particularly important in light ofincreasing North–South migration (see Laczko andBrian, 2013) that assumptions about North–South– and, indeed,North–North –migrants be carefullyexamined. Many may indeed be lifestyle migrants,seeking to find warmer climes and affordability in

2 The term “US citizen” is here, as it is elsewhere, usedinterchangeably with “Americans,” despite its inaccuracy,given that Mexicans, Brazilians and Canadians are also“Americans.”

Migrants or expatriates? US citizens as a migrant groupAmanda Klekowski von Koppenfels1

1 AmandaKlekowskivonKoppenfelsistheDirectoroftheMAProgramme in International Migration at the University ofKentinBrussels.SheistheauthorofMigrants or Expatriates: Americans in Europe,publishedbyPalgravein2014.

retirement (cf. Dixon et al., 2006; O’Reilly, 2000),whileothersareoriginallyfromtheGlobalSouthandarereturning“home”(LaczkoandBrian,2013)whenthey undertake North–South migration. Yet manyothersareoriginallyfromtheNorth,leavinginsearchofbettereconomicopportunities,formarriage,orforsomeotherreasons.Insomecases,eitherthesearchforemploymentorthemarriageendspoorly.

Oftenassumed tobe reflectiveof theUnitedStatesitself, with its broadly assumed wealth and power,Americans overseas do not necessarily embodythe characteristics of theUnited States. Indeed,myresearchshowsthatapluralityofAmericansmovedtoEuropetobewithapartner,andare,correspondingly,notmovingashighly-skilledprofessionalswithintheirprofessions as might be most often assumed (seeKlekowski von Koppenfels, 2014). Of the Americanswhorespondedtomysurvey,andwhowereprimarilylivinginEurope,justover40percentwereemployedfulltime,andnearlyonequarterwereself-employed(Klekowski von Koppenfels, 2014:80). Many othersremain in situations of underemployment, oftenworking well below their level of education. Whilemanywereindeedhighlyskilledandworkingintheirpreferred fields, otherswere not – teaching Englishbythehour,translatingorrunningsmallbusinesses.OveronequarterofmyrespondentsremittedmoneytotheUnitedStates,andnearly30percentreceivedfunds from friendsor familybackhome;7per centhaddoneboth(KlekowskivonKoppenfels,2014:90).

Yet Americans, like many others from the GlobalNorth, are almost inevitably referred to as“expatriates” rather than “migrants,” each of theseterms evoking certain associations. IOM notes thattheterm“migrant”is“usuallyunderstoodtocoverallcaseswherethedecisiontomigratewastakenfreelybytheindividual,concernedforreasonsof‘personalconvenience’andwithoutinterventionofanexternalcompellingfactor”(IOM,2011).Thedistinctionhereismadeagainst the term“refugee,”which refers tomost, ifnotall,migrantsfromtheGlobalNorth.Myresearch shows that Americansmove to Europe formanyofthesamereasonsthatmanyindividualsfromtheGlobalSouthcountriesdo–primarilytobewitha

17Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

partner,pursuestudies,ortakeupemployment(seeKlekowskivonKoppenfels,2014:50).

“Expatriate,” on the other hand, is a status that is“accompanied by associations of luxury, leisure ormoral decline, in historical aswell as contemporarycontexts” (Fechter, 2007:3). Despite this primaryassociation,thetermhasseveraldefinitionswiththemostaccurateone– that is, “an individualwhohasrenouncedone’scitizenship”–usedleastoften.Morecommon isanarrowsociologicaldefinition,namely,thatofsomeoneonashort-term(usuallythreetofiveyears)“expatriateassignment”outsideone’scountryof citizenship or birth, either as an intra-companytransfereeorbyworkingforamultinationalcompanyor international organization.3 The assumption thatthose from the Global North are a homogenousgroup,uniformlyworkingonatemporarybasis,withthe intention of returning to their home country,seemstounderliethebroaderapplicationofthistermtoallofthosefromtheGlobalNorth(seeKlekowskivonKoppenfels,2014forfurtherdiscussion).

Thetermhas,however,beenexpandedtorefermorebroadly to all of those fromcountriesof theGlobalNorth (or the Organisation for European EconomicCo-operation).Inthisusage,thetermhascertainneo-colonialovertones,asdoestheconceptofthe“lifestylemigrant,” that is, an individual who is migrating insearchof“abetterwayoflife”(BensonandO’Reilly,2009b:609).Lifestylemigrants,thus,bydefinition,donotmoveforemploymentorpartnership.Atthesametime,thedistinctionbetweenalifestylemigrantandamigrantseekingemploymentmaynotbeabletobepreciselydetermined. It is clear thata refugeefleesforsafetyfrompersecution.Ontheotherhand,thereare thosewhoareclearly lifestylemigrants, suchasmanyoftheBritishmigrantsontheCostadelSolandthe US citizens in Mexico (cf. Croucher, 2009). Butwhat ofmigrantswho choose to seek highly skilledemployment inorder to improve their skillsorearnhighersalaries?AnIndianITworkerinSiliconValley?OranAmericanbankerinLondon?Thelinebetween“economic”migrantandlifestylemigrantmaynotbesoeasilydrawn.

3 Theterm“expatriate”isincreasinglybeingusedmorewidelytorefertoabroaderrangeofmigrants.Bothacademicallyandmorecolloquially,however,thetermscontinuetobeusedtoapply tomigrants from theGlobalNorth andGlobal South,respectively.

“Lifestyle migrants, thus, by definition, do not move for employment or partnership.”

My research poses the question as to whetherAmericans in Europe are the expatriates that theyareoftenseenasorif,indeed,theymightbeviewedasmigrants.ElspethGuildoffersausefulperspectiveondefining“expatriate,”that is,thatexpatriatesare“definedbyreferencetowheretheycamefromratherthanwhotheyare.Thisarisesfromthedifference-in-power relationshipbetweenthecountryoforigin…andthehostcountry”(Guild,2009:20).Assuch,aUScitizeninVietNamworkingforalargemultinationalcompany might be referred to as an expatriate, asmightaGermanworkingforalargeGermancompanyin the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela or India. InthecaseofAmericanslivinginEurope,however,this“difference-in-power”islessstrong.

WhataboutanAmericanfreelancetranslatorinBerlin,perhapsonelivingfromcontracttocontract?Isheamigrantoranexpatriate?Morelikelythannot,hewillbereferredtoasanexpatriate.Whatifyoulearnthatthe freelance translator– let’s call himMichael – isgay,andisunabletoliveintheUnitedStateswithhisGermanhusband?Michael’shusbandno longerhasthelegalrighttoliveintheUnitedStates,butMichaelholdsaresidencevisainGermanyasthespouseofaGerman.Michael,perhaps,isnotwhowemightthinkofasa“typicalAmerican”–ormaybeevenamigrant.Similarly, Betty, whom I also interviewed in Berlin,came from what she called “a very difficult familysituation.”Whenshewasable tocometoGermanyandworkasanaupair,shesawagoodwaytogetoutofabadsituation.ShestayedinBerlintostudyatauniversity,metapartner,married,andhasnowbeeninBerlinfornearly20years.

NeitherBetty’snorMichael’scase isunusual; in thecourseofmyresearch,IcameacrossmanyAmericanswhohadmoved toEurope for reasons far removedfromtheassumptionsoffocusedandplannedcareeradvancement, intra-company transfer or glamorousrenovationsofruralhomesinsouthernEurope.Manycertainlydiddoso,andmanyalsotravelledinsearchof adventure and expanding horizons. Michael’ssituationisonethathasonlyrecentlychanged:prior

18 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

toJune2013,gayandlesbianAmericanswithforeignpartners were unable to sponsor their partners foraspousalGreenCard, forcingthemto liveabroad–ofteninEurope–inordertoformafamily.YetinJune2013 theUnited States v.Windsordecision allowedgay and lesbian Americans to sponsor their foreignpartnersforGreenCards,whichmeansthatsuchso-called“loveexile”situationsnowariselessoften.

Finally, we end this commentary with the questionwithwhichitbegan:MightaUScitizenneedtoavailhimorherselfoftheassistanceofIOM?In2013over30UScitizensdidjustthat,returningtotheUnitedStateswiththeassistanceofIOM’sAVRRprogrammes.TheUSStateDepartmentalsoassistsUScitizensinreturninghome,providingpassportsvalidfortravelbacktotheUnitedStatesonly,aswellasemergencyrepatriationloans–whichmustberepaidbeforeanewpassportcan be issued. In fiscal year 2012, similar to 2011,over1,000UScitizenswereassistedtoreturntotheUnitedStatesbytheUSStateDepartment(USStateDepartment,2013).Inthatsameyear,theAmericansOverseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center (AODVC)assisted550Americanwomenlivingoverseas,manyof whom were married to local nationals, to leavesituations of domestic abuse (AODVC, 2012). TheseareAmericansoverseaswhohavesoughtandfoundhelp–theydonotinclude,however,thosewhowereabletofindhelpfromfriendsorfamily,orthosewhoremain in difficult situations. In short, perhaps ourassumptions concerning US citizens – one group ofmigrants from the Global North – are not entirelyaccurate. If so, then the question which follows iswhetherour–media,governmentandresearchers–assumptionsconcerningothermigrantsmaybebasedonsimilarassumptionandgeneralizations.

While establishing typologies and developing broadgeneralizations aboutmigrant groups are important–in order to provide services, as well as establishan understanding of the phenomenon – we needto take care to avoid seeing migrant groups ashomogenous entities. In the case of migrants fromtheGlobalNorth,theyareoftenseenas“somethingotherthanmigrants.” Includingtheminthebroaderunderstanding of migration will contribute to ourunderstandingofthephenomenonoverall.n

References

American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center(AODVC)

2012 Annual Report 2012. AODVC, Portland,OR. Available from http://866uswomen.org/Docs/AmericansOverseasDVCrisisCen-ter2012AnnualReport.pdf (accessed June2014).

Benson,M.andK.O’Reilly2009 Migrationand thesearch forabetterway

of life: A critical exploration of lifestylemigration. Sociological Review 57(4):608–625.

Croucher,S.2009 The Other Side of the Fence: American

Migrants in Mexico. University of TexasPress,Austin.

Dixon,D.etal.2006 America’s Emigrants: US retirement

migration to Mexico and Panama. MigrationPolicyInstitute,Washington,D.C.Available from www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/americas_emigrants.pdf (accessedJune2014).

Fechter,M.2007 Transnational Lives: Expatriates in

Indonesia.Ashgate,Aldershot.

Guild,E.2009 Security and Migration in the 21st Century.

Polity,Cambridge.

InternationalOrganizationforMigration(IOM)2011 Key Migration Terms. Webpage available

from www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/about-migration/key-migration-terms-1.html#Migrant (accessed June2014).

KlekowskivonKoppenfels,A.2014 Migrants or Expatriates? Americans in

Europe. PalgraveMacmillan,Basingstoke.

19Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

KlekowskivonKoppenfels,A.andCostanzo,J.2013 “Counting the Uncountable: Overseas

Americans.” Migration Information Source, May 2013. Available from www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=951(accessedJune2014).

Laczko,F.andT.Brian2013 North–Southmigration:Adifferentlookat

the migration and development debate.Migration Policy Practice, 3:14–19.Available from http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/free/MigrationPolicyPracticeJournal11_22July2013.pdf (accessed in June2014).

O’Reilly,K.2000 The British on the Costa del Sol: Transnational

identities and local communities.Routledge,London.

UnitedStatesStateDepartment2013 Repatriate Loans Program Account.Program

document, available from www.state.gov/documents/organization/208998.pdf(accessedJune2014).

Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE20

Introduction

Big Data” is generated every time we send atextmessage,makeamobilephonecall, runan Internet search, transfer money online

or interacton socialmedia. This article looksat thepotential of using such data to improve data onmigrationatatimewhentherearegrowingcalls toimprovethemigrationevidencebase.Towhatextentcansuchnewdatasourcesprovidepolicymakerswithmoretimelyandcomparabledataonmigration?

At the 2013 UN High-level Dialogue on Migrationand Development, it was widely agreed thatpolicymakersneededmuchbetterdataonmigrationand development. For example, the best migrationdataoftencomesfromcensuses,whichcanbeseveralyears old and, thus, outdated. Only 12 countries insub-Saharan Africa have conducted a census in thelastdecade.Thelackofmigrationdataoftenleadstopublic misperceptions about the scale of migrationand its impact. Poor official statistics on migrationmakes it difficult for decision makers around theworldtodevelopeffectivepolicies.Thelackofrobustmigrationdataalsomakes itmoredifficult to arguefor the inclusionofmigration indicators in thepost-2015developmentagenda.

Calls for better data on migration are not new,but they come at an important time when thedevelopmentcommunityisrecommendingtheneedfor a “development data revolution” (UNHigh-levelPanelreportonthepost-2015developmentagenda,2013). Bill Gates, for example, recently argued thatimprovingthelivesofthepoorwillrequirearevolutionindevelopmentdata:

“Ultimately, the better the data available in the development field, the higher the quality of people’s lives in poor countries.”2

2 Visit www.adb.org/features/big-data-vital-statistics-develop-mentformoreinformationonBigData.

Can Big Data help us achieve a “migration data revolution”?Frank Laczko and Marzia Rango1

1 FrankLaczkoisHeadoftheMigrationResearchDivisionatIOMHeadquarters inGeneva;MarziaRango isaResearch Internin theMigration Research Division at IOMHeadquarters inGeneva.

“

A “data revolution” would mean developing newapproaches,newpartnersandnewsourcesandusesofdata,andcouldaddimpetustocallsforbetterdataon migration and development. As the 2013 High-levelPanel(HLP)reportnotes:

“This is not just about governments. International agencies, CSOs and the private sector should be involved. A true data revolution would draw on existing and new sources of data to fully integrate statistics into decision-making, promote open access to, and use of, data and ensure increased support for statistical systems.”(HLP,2013).

Giventhiscontext,governmentsandthedevelopmentcommunity are becoming increasingly interestedin exploring the potential of using Big Data, theunprecedentedlylargeamountofdataautomaticallygeneratedthroughtheuseofdigitaldevicesorweb-basedplatformsand tools. TheUKGovernment, forexample, plans to spend over USD 100 million onresearchtoexplorethepotentialofusingsuchdata.Innovationsintechnologyandreductionsinthepricesofdigitaldevicesworldwidemeanthatdigitaldataisbeingproducedinrealtimeandatanunprecedentedrate. In particular, there are now more than6billioncellularphones,5billionofwhichareusedindevelopingcountries.Therehasbeenexponentialgrowth in mobile phone penetration in developingcountries,reaching89percentin2013.3

This article explores how Big Data might help toimprove our understanding of migration trendsaround the world. We consider some of theadvantages and disadvantages of using such dataandillustratethroughconcreteexamplesitspotentialuses in the study of migration. The article outlineswaysinwhichBigDatacanbeusedto:(a)trackpost-disaster displacement using call detail records (or“CDRs”); (b) identify modalities and determinantsof mobile money transfers through other kinds ofmobilephonedata;(c)estimateandpredictmigrationflows and rates through the Internet protocol (IP)

3 See www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2013-e.pdfformoreinformation.

Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE 21

addressesofwebsiteloginsandsente-mails;(d)infermigration trends and compare patterns of internaland internationalmigrationusing geo-located socialmedia data; and (e) analyse transnational networksand diaspora groups or migration-related publicdiscoursethroughsocialmediacontent.

Defining “Big Data”

Theterm“BigData”usuallyreferstothevastamountof data generated by the use of digital devices andweb-based tools and platforms (Latouzé, 2012). BigDatacanalsocomefromothertypesofdigitalsensorsandmeters,suchassatellite imagery.Morebroadly,BigDataalsoreferstothegrowinganalyticalcapacityand increasingly powerful computation methodsavailabletodaytoanalysecomplexandhugeamountsof digital data. Themain characteristics of Big Dataarecommonlyreferredtoasthe“ThreeVs”:volume,velocity and variety (Laney, 2001), with the recentaddition of a fourth “V,” standing for the potentialand, typically, financial value that can be extractedfrom the collection, aggregation and analysis of BigData.4

Theexponentialgrowthintheuseofmobilephones,socialmedia and Internet-based servicesworldwidemeans the“volume”ofdataavailable is larger thanever before in human history, but Big Data doesnot exclusively owe its name to its size. In fact,any “passively collected data deriving from dailyusage of digital services” constitutes Big Data – aphenomenonalsoknownas“dataexhaust”(Latouzé,2012).“Velocity”referstotheunprecedentedspeedwith which data is generated, and “variety” to itscomplexity, as Big Data is constituted by structuredand unstructured data – an example of the formerare CDRs, which can be objectively arranged andanalysed, while any type of social media contentconstitutesunstructureddata,as it issubjectiveandnon-verifiable.

4 McKinseyGlobal Instituteestimated thefinancial value thatcanpotentiallybeextractedfromtheuseofBigDataacrossdifferent sectors: Gains would be in the order of USD 300billion for the US health-care sector each year, and EUR250 billion for the European public administration sector(McKinseyGlobalInstitute,2011).

Growing interest in the potential of using “Big Data”

Sincethemid-1990s,whentheconceptofBigDatainitspresentconnotationwasarguablyfirstintroduced,5businesses, academics and policymakers have paidincreasing attention to ways of harnessing thepotentialofthiskindofdataintheirrespectivefields.InterestinusingBigDatainthefieldofinternationaldevelopmenthasexplodedinrecentyears.Therehasbeen a surge of publications dedicated to Big Dataand internationaldevelopmentsuchas,notably, theWorldEconomicForum’s“BigData,BigImpact:NewPossibilities for International Development6” andthe UN Global Pulse’s “Big Data for Development:Challenges and Opportunities.”7 The UN GlobalPulse initiative was established in 2009 with thespecific purpose of “exploring how digital data andnew real-time analytical technologies can providea better understanding of changes in human well-being and emerging vulnerabilities.”8 Research fromUN Global Pulse focused, among other aspects, ontheuseof socialmedia as earlywarning signals forcommoditypricevolatilityorspikesinunemploymentratesinspecificcountries,andthereareplanstosetup a network of “Pulse Labs” aimed at establishingpublic–privatepartnerships toharness thepotentialof Big Data in development program planning andmonitoring.BigData couldalsobeused to improvedecision-making in health care, natural disaster andresource management, and economic productivity(Hilbert, 2013). Institutions, including the HarvardSchool of Public Health and the Qatar ComputingResearchInstitute,offerusefulresourcesonBigDataforinternationaldevelopment.

Potential uses of Big Data to study migration

Discussion of the potential uses of Big Data to fillmigration data gaps is still in its infancy. Paperspresented at the 2014 Global Forum on MigrationandDevelopmentandtheUNHigh-leveldialogueon

5 See http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/the-origins-of-big-data-an-etymological-detective-story formore on thehistoryofBigData.

6 This reort may be downloaded from www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TC_MFS_BigDataBigImpact_Briefing_2012.pdf.

7 This report may be downloaded from www.unglobalpulse.o rg /s i te s /defau l t / f i l e s /B i gData fo rDeve lopment-UNGlobalPulseJune2012.pdf.

8 UNGlobalPulseofficialwebsite:www.unglobalpulse.org.

22 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

MigrationandDevelopmentin2013barelymentionedthesubject.Thenumberofmigrationstudiesdrawingon Big Data is still relatively limited but rapidlyincreasing.Someexamplesarepresentedbelow(seeTable1forasummaryofthedifferenttypesofstudieswhichhavebeenconductedinthemigrationfield).

CDR data to track forced displacement or infer internal migration patterns

CDRsaredigitalrecordsautomaticallygeneratedandcollected by mobile network operators every timeamobilephonecall ismade.Theygenerally includeinformationaboutthetimeanddurationofthecall,thecallingandreceivingnumbersand,mostimportantformigrationresearch,theapproximate locationsofthe caller and the receiver (i.e. the locations of thecelltowerstowhichtheSIMcardsconnectduringthecall). The identificationofeither location ismoreorlessaccuratedependingonthedistancebetweencelltowers(smallerinurbanareasrelativetoruralareas).Several studies have used CDR data to trackpopulationmovement in theaftermathofdisasters,given the rapid and uncontrolled character of thiskindofdisplacement,anddetectpatternsofinternaland circular migration, which are typically hard tocaptureusingtraditionalsourcesofdatalikenationalcensuses and household surveys. Bengtsson et al.(2011)estimatedthemagnitudeofandthetrendsinpopulationmovementsoutofPort-au-Princefollowingthe 2010 Haiti earthquake. The authors obtained(anonymized) records from one of the country’slargestmobilenetworkoperatorson2.8millionSIMsthatmadeatleastonecallduringthepre-andpost-earthquakeperiods.RecordsincludedthelocationofthemobilephonetowertowhicheachSIMconnectedduring the call, which made it possible to followmobilephonesubscriber’smovements.Theestimateswere close to early estimates by the national civilprotectionagencyintermsofnumber(thoughquitedifferentintermsofdistribution).Moreimportantly,theywere similar to retrospectivepopulation-baseddata,showingthepredictivepowerofgeo-referencedmobilephonecalldata.Aparallel studywascarriedoutinNewZealandaftertheChristchurchearthquakewithsimilarresults(ACAPS,2013).

CDR data uses are not confined to studies on post-disaster displacement. For example, Blumenstock(2012) usedmobile phone records to infer internalmigration patterns in Rwanda. The potential of BigData for thestudyof internalandcircularmigration

is particularly significant, given that traditional datacollection tools such as government censuses andhousehold surveys do not typically capture suchpatterns. Along the same lines, Eagle et al. (2009)looked at differences in movement between ruraland urban residents. Also, Frias-Martinez et al.(2010)studiedtheimpactofsocioeconomicstatusonmigrationinoneLatinAmericancitybylookingatICT-generateddata,andLuWetteretal.(2013)analysedthe predictability of humanmobility using a similarmethodology.

Identify modalities and determinants of mobile money transfers using mobile phone data

Apartfromcallrecords,existingresearchshowsthatotherkindsofmobilephonedatacanalsobecollected,analysed and used in several ways. Blumenstocket al. (2013) collected the comprehensive log of allmobilephoneactivity–calls, textmessages,moneytransfers and purchases – of 1.5million subscribersfromRwanda’sprimarytelecommunicationsoperatorduringafour-yearperiod.Morespecifically,theyuseddatafrominterpersonaltransfersbetweensubscribersof thenetwork–date,time, valueandanonymizedidentifiersforsendersandreceivers–tounderstandhowmoneysentthroughphonesisusedtoshareriskintheaftermathofnaturaldisasters(inparticular,the2008 Rwanda earthquake) and the determinants ofmobilemoneytransfers.

Using IP addresses of website logins and e-mail sending to estimate international migration trends

State et al. (2013) and Zagheni and Weber (2012)provide examples of innovative approaches toestimatemigrationflowsusingBigData in the formof IPaddress-based locationdata. In thefirstpaper,

“Records included the location of the mobile phone

tower to which each SIM connected during the call, which made it possible to

follow mobile phone subscriber’s movements.”

23Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

short- and medium-term migration flows wereestimatedusingIPaddressesfromrepeatedloginstoYahoo!Servicesbyover100millionanonymizedusersduring a one-year period. The authors constructedthesamplefollowingadata-cleaningprotocolaimedat reducing the inaccuracies (“noise”) normallyassociatedwiththeuseofIPgeo-locationdata–forinstance,usersmightuseaproxy server to connecttothe Internet, inwhichcasetheirphysical locationwould not correspond to the IP-based geo-location.Byconstructingastatisticalmodelforthepredictionandanalysisofmigrant(aswellasshort-termtourist)flows,theauthorswereableto inferglobalmobilitypatternsonthebasisof“conditionalprobabilitiesofmigration,”orelsethelikelihoodthatamigrantfromonecountrywillgotoanothercountry.Thismodelwasalsoabletocapturepatternsofcircularor“pendular”migrationwhichcannotbeidentifiedusingtraditionaldatasourcessuchasnationalcensusesorhouseholdsurveys.

In Zagheni and Weber (2014), IP addresses wereusedtomapthegeographiclocationsfromwhere43millionanonymizeduserssente-mailmessageswithinagivenperiod.Theauthors linked such informationto users’ self-reported age and gender informationto estimate age- and gender-specific migrationrates, with the assumption that a user’s country ofresidenceistheonefromwhereheorshesentmostofhisorhere-mails.Inordertocorrectforselectionbias–thefactthatthesampleconsideredisnormallyquite large, but not necessarily representative ofthewholepopulationdue todifferences in Internetusagepatternsacrosscountriesandagegroups–theresearchers constructed a model which took intoaccount differentials in Internet penetration ratesby age and gender across countries. The reason forthisisthatincountrieswhereInternetpenetrationislow,Internetusersmightbeaselectgroupofhighlyeducatedormobilepeople,and,thus,mobilitymightbeoverestimated.Astheauthorsargue,thistypeofresearchhasthepotentialtorevolutionizethewayinwhichmigrationstatisticsarecompiled,givenitsglobalscale,therelativelyshorttime-frameinwhichitcanbecarriedoutgiventhevelocityofdatageneration,thereal-time collection, and the limitations associatedto the use of demographic registration systems,asmigrants oftendo not register in the destinationcountry(whentheydo,thereisoftenalagbetweentheirmovementtothedestinationcountryandactualregistration).

Using geo-located social media (Twitter) data to infer migration trends

Social media is becoming an important source ofinformationtostudymigrationtrends,asitmakesitpossible to identify and (anonymously) follow usersovertime through geo-referencedposts. Zagheni etal. (2014)usedgeographic information(latitudeandlongitude) derived from Twitter posts to estimatemigration in countries of the Organisation forEconomicCo-operationandDevelopment(OECD).Inparticular, the researchers downloaded geo-located“tweets” (i.e. Twitter posts) of about 500,000 userswhopostedat leastonetweetinthesampleperiodusing Twitter Application Programming Interface,and mapped users to countries, dividing them intothosewho“tweeted”fromone,two,threecountriesor more. They then selected a sample of users forwhich theyhaddetailed and consistent informationover the period considered – at least three geo-located tweets in each of the four-month periodsover twoyears– scalingdown the sample toabout15,000users. Theirmainmethodological innovationis the use of a difference-in-difference strategy toreduce the “selection bias” inherent in the use ofsocialmediadataforstatistical inference,giventhatTwitter (as well as other social media platforms)users do not constitute a representative sample ofthewholepopulation.Inotherwords,assumingthatthecompositionofTwitteruserschangesinasimilarwayacrosscountries,onecanextrapolatemigrationtrends by comparing relative changes in migrationratesforasinglecountrywithrelativechangesforthegroupofreferenceattwopointsintime.

Geo-referencedTwitterdata allows for comparisonsbetween patterns of internal and internationalmigration,becauseitmakesitpossibletodifferentiatebetween country residents, that is, those whopost tweets from the reference or origin country,and migrants, that is, those who “tweet” fromanother country. Also, this data has great potentialin migration forecasting because it is available wellbeforeinformationfromnationalcensusesorsurveys.Moreworkfromthescientificcommunityisneeded,however,first,toovercomeselectionbiasintheuseofsocialmediatotrackmobility,therebyensuringtheexternalvalidityofstudiesbasedonthiskindofdata;and second, tomake it possible to predictmobilitypatternswithhighlycomplex,unstructuredandhard-to-verifysocialmediadata.

24 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

Alternative uses of social media content in migration research

Social media represent another Big Data sourceof useful information for migration studies. Aspreviously explained, social media platforms suchlikemicroblogging site Twitter can be used to infermobility patterns using the geographic informationlinkedtousers’posts.However,thepotentialofsocialmedia data in the field of migration studies is notconfinedtotheidentificationorpredictionofmobilitytrends.Socialmediacontainunstructuredandoftenpubliclyavailabledata(unlikee-mailmessages,whichareprivateinnature),whichcanbeusedinavarietyofwaysasagrowingacademicliteratureshows.

AspecialissueoftheJournal of Ethnic and Migration Studies entitled “MigrationandDiaspora in theAgeof Information and Communication Technologies”(No. 9, Vol. 38, 2012) was entirely dedicated toissuesthatemergefromtheintersectionofICTsandmigration,suchasdiasporaandtransnationalism,aswellastoways inwhich ICTs impactmigrants’ lives.Empiricalstudieshaveinvestigatedtheroleofsocialmediaplatformsintheconstructionoftransnationalnetworks (Nedelcu, 2012). Social media have beenfound not only to ease communication betweenmigrants, but to actively transform the nature ofmigrant networks and, in some instances, facilitatemigration: potential migrants can use social mediato establishtieswith people already residing in thepotentialdestinationcountry,ortocollectinformationthrough informal channels (Dekker and Engbersen,2013).Socialmediacanalsobeusefultoinvestigatethepoliticalactivismofmigrantsandminoritygroups(Conversi, 2012;Kissau,2012),migrants’ integrationinto thehostsociety (Rinnawi,2012),aswellas thetransformationoffamilyrelationshipsandtheimpactofmigrationonmigrants’well-being,forexample.

Lastly,socialmediacanberichsourcesofinformationfor analysing people’s attitudes towards immigrantsandimmigration,aswellasmigrantintegrationinthehost society. For instance, the projectUnite Europeaims to analyse social media content generated bycitizenstoinformlocalintegrationpolicies.9However,thereareseriouschallengesassociatedwiththiskindofresearch,asinformationgatheredonsocialmediamightrepresentaverysmallsampleofpublicopinionormightbeexaggeratedorinanycasenotcorrespondtopeople’sactualviews(McGregorandSiegel,2013).

9 UniteEuropeofficialwebsite:www.uniteeurope.org.

Tosumup,themostcommonapplicationsofBigDatainthecontextofmigrationseemtobeintheuseofmobilephonecalldata to trackandassistdisplacedpopulationsinregionsexposedtodisasterrisk.Thereare several ongoing studies of this type. Academicresearchers at the Flowminder Foundation work toimprovepublichealthoutcomesindisaster-,conflict-anddisease-affected regions through the collection,aggregation, analysis and dissemination of mobilephone data to track displacement and thereforeimprove relief responses.10 The United NationsUniversity’s project, “Mobile Data, EnvironmentalExtremes and Population” (MDEEP), seeks to usemobilephonecalldata,amongothersources,tostudythe impact of cyclones and household responsesin Bangladesh. A current project led by MaastrichtUniversity is focusingon thepotential of usingnewtechnologiesinrespondingtohumandisplacement.11

GeorgetownUniversityand theUniversityof SussexarejointlyconductingresearchontheusesofBigDatatocreateanearlywarningsystemtopreventforcedpopulationdisplacement.12

“As previously explained, social media platforms such

like microblogging site Twitter can be used to infer

mobility patterns using the geographic information

linked to users’ posts.”

10 Flowminder Foundation official website: www.flowminder.org.

11 See “ICT and population displacement: potentials of newtechnologiesinrespondingtohumandisplacement”atwww.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/Main/Education/InnovationAn-dExcellence/ExcellenceProgrammes/PREMIUM/Projects1.htm.

12 Seewww.georgetown.edu/research/news/isim-forced-migra-tion-warning-system.htmlformoreinformation.

25Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

Tabl

e 1:

Sum

mar

y of

the

alte

rnati

ve u

ses o

f Big

Dat

a in

stud

ying

mig

ratio

n tr

ends

Big

Data

ty

peDe

scrip

tion

Exam

ples

of p

ast u

ses

Pitfa

lls/C

halle

nges

Furt

her p

oten

tial

Calldetailrecords(CDRs)

Digita

lrecordsautom

atically

gene

ratedan

dcollected

bymob

ile

netw

orkop

eratorseverytim

ea

mob

ilepho

necallismad

e.CDRs

includ

einform

ation

abo

utth

etim

ean

ddu

ratio

nofth

ecall,th

ecalling

an

dreceivingnu

mbe

rsand

the

approxim

atelocatio

nsofthe

caller

andthereceiver.

Trac

king

pos

t-dis

aste

r dis

plac

emen

t

Beng

tssonetal.(201

1)estimated

themagnitude

ofa

nd

thetren

dsin

pop

ulati

onm

ovem

ento

utofP

ort-au

-Prince

follo

wingthe20

10Haitiea

rthq

uaketh

roug

han

onym

ized

locatio

nrecordson

2.8m

illionSIMsthatm

adeatleasto

ne

callinth

epre-and

post-ea

rthq

uakeperiod.

Privacyan

dethicalissue

s;

person

alsecurity

issues

incon

flictsitu

ation

s;

selecti

onbiasan

dexternalvalidity

;data

collecti

onand

ana

lysis;

integrati

onofinn

ovati

ve

with

trad

ition

aldata;

contextualkno

wledg

e.

Creatio

nofearlywarning

system

sforforced

migratio

nan

dpo

pulatio

ndisplacemen

ts13;

migratio

nforecasting

;study

ing

internaland

tempo

rary/circ

ular

migratio

npa

tterns.

Othertypesofmobilephonedata

Logofallmob

ilepho

neacti

vity,

includ

ingcalls,textm

essages,

mon

eytran

sferand

online

purcha

ses.

Iden

tifyi

ng m

odal

ities

and

det

erm

inan

ts o

f mob

ile m

oney

tr

ansf

ers

Blum

enstocketal.(201

3)usedda

taoninterpersona

lmon

eytran

sfersbe

twee

n1.5millionsubscribersto

Rwan

da’sm

aintelecommun

icati

onope

rator(date,

time,value

and

ano

nymized

iden

tifiersforsend

ersan

dreceivers)to

und

erstan

dho

wm

oneyisusedtosha

rerisk

inpost-disastersitu

ation

s(in

thiscase,th

e20

08Rwan

da

earthq

uake)a

ndid

entifythede

term

inan

tsofm

obilem

oney

tran

sfers.

Privacyan

dethicalissue

s;

securityissuesin

con

flict

situati

ons;selectio

nbias

andexternalvalidity

;data

collecti

onand

ana

lysis;

integrati

onofinn

ovati

ve

with

trad

ition

aldata;

contextualkno

wledg

e.

Stud

ying

patt

ernsof

remittan

ce-sen

ding

acti

vitie

s.

IPaddressesofwebsiteloginsandsente-mails

Geo

-referen

cedda

tabased

onIP-

addressesofre

peated

loginsto

the

sameweb

siteore-mail-sen

ding

activ

ity.

Estim

ating

and

pre

dicti

ng m

igra

tion

flow

s/ra

tes

Stateetal.(201

3)estimateshort-and

med

ium-term

migratio

nflo

wsfrom

repe

ated

loginsto

Yah

oo!S

ervices

web

siteofo

ver10

0millionan

onym

ized

usersduringaon

e-yearperiod.The

yalsobuiltamod

elto

inferglob

alm

obility

patternsbased

onthelikelihoo

dofm

igrantsmoving.

Zagh

eniand

Web

er(2

012)estimated

age-a

ndgen

der-

specificmigratio

nratesusingIP-add

ressesto

map

the

geog

raph

iclo

catio

nsfrom

whe

ree-m

ailsweresentand

theself-repo

rted

ageand

gen

derinform

ation

of4

3million

anon

ymized

users.

Privacyan

dethical

issues;selectio

nbiasand

externalvalidity

;data

collecti

onand

ana

lysis;

accuracyofIP-ba

sed

geog

raph

icinform

ation

atth

elocaland

region

al

levels;integratio

nofin

novativ

ewith

trad

ition

aldata.

Migratio

ntracking

and

forecasting

;study

inginternal

andtempo

rary/circ

ular

migratio

npa

tterns.

13V

isitwww.geo

rgetow

n.ed

u/research/new

s/isim

-forced-migratio

n-warning

-system.htm

land

www.ehs.unu

.edu

/mde

ep,respe

ctively,form

oreinform

ation

abo

utGeo

rgetow

nUniversity

’s

andUnitedNati

onsUniversity

’scurrentre

searchprojects.

26 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

Big

Data

ty

peDe

scrip

tion

Exam

ples

of p

ast u

ses

Pitfa

lls/C

halle

nges

Furt

her p

oten

tial

Geo-locatedsocialmediadata

Geo

grap

hicinform

ation

(lati

tude

an

dlong

itude

)derived

from

users’

geo-locatedpo

stson

socialm

edia.

Infe

rrin

g m

igra

tion

tren

ds a

nd c

ompa

ring

patt

erns

of

inte

rnal

and

inte

rnati

onal

mig

ratio

n

Zagh

enieta

l.(201

4)estimated

migratio

ntren

dsin

OEC

D

coun

triesusinggeo-locatedpo

stson

Twitterof1

5,00

0users

with

anestablishe

dminim

umlevelo

facti

vityand

forwhich

theyhaveconsistentinform

ation

overtim

e,distin

guishing

be

twee

nreside

nts,who

weretw

eetin

gfrom

one

cou

ntry,

andmigrants,who

weretw

eetin

gfrom

differen

tcou

ntries.

Privacyan

dethical

issues;selectio

nbias

andexternalvalidity

;da

tacollecti

onand

an

alysis;accuracyan

dtruthfulne

ssofself-

provided

inform

ation

;integrati

onofinn

ovati

ve

with

trad

ition

aldata.

Migratio

ntracking

and

forecasting

;study

ofinterna

lan

dtempo

rary/circ

ular

migratio

npa

tterns;creati

onof

earlywarning

systemfo

rforced

migratio

nan

dconfl

ict-indu

ced

displacemen

t.

Socialmediacontent

Datagene

ratedbyusers’acti

vity

onsocialm

edia(p

osts,com

men

ts,

pictures,etc.),partly

pub

licly

available.

Anal

ysis

of t

rans

natio

nal n

etw

orks

and

dia

spor

a gr

oups

Ned

elcu(2

012)investigatedtheroleofsocialm

ediain

theconstructio

noftran

snati

onalnetworksbyconsidering

InternetusebyRo

man

ianprofession

alsinToron

toand

their

tran

snati

onalfa

milies.

Oiarzab

al(2

012)ana

lysed90

web

sitesused

bytheBa

sque

diaspo

rain

16coun

triesasparto

fhisre

searchonthe

influ

enceofo

nlineactiv

itiesonoffl

ineBa

sque

diaspora

mem

bers.

Anal

ysis

of m

igra

tion-

rela

ted

publ

ic d

isco

urse

TheprojectU

niteEurop

eaimstoana

lysesocialm

edia

conten

tgen

erated

bycitizen

stoinform

localintegratio

npo

licies.

TheOxfordMigratio

nObservatory(2

013)con

ducted

a

quan

titati

veana

lysisofth

elang

uageusedby20British

newspap

ersovertw

oyearstodetermineprevalen

tmigratio

ndiscou

rseinth

eUnitedKing

dom.

Privacyan

dethical

issues;selectio

nbiasand

externalvalidity

;accuracy

andtruthfulne

ssofself-

provided

inform

ation

and

socialm

ediacon

tent;

datacollecti

onand

an

alysisofcom

plex

unstructured

data.

Ana

lysisofm

igrants’networks,

politi

calm

obilizatio

n,

commun

ityand

iden

tity

form

ation

;assessm

ento

fmigrantintegrati

onin

the

hostcou

ntry;ana

lysisof

publicattitude

stowards

immigrantsan

dim

migratio

n;

evalua

tionofpub

liccon

fiden

ce

ingovernm

entimmigratio

npo

licies.

27Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

Using Big Data to study migration: Issues and challenges

TheuseofBigDatainmigrationresearchcomeswithsignificantchallenges.First,thereareseriousprivacy,ethicalandhumanrightsissuesrelatedtouseofdatainadvertently generated by users of mobile devicesandweb-basedplatforms.Riskstoindividualrightstoprivacycaneventhreatenpersonalsecurityinconflictsituations (Letouzé, 2012). Public concerns over theuseofBigData foranypurpose, including research,need to be identified and adequately addressed bypolicymakers, perhaps through the creation of aregulatorysystemsettingoutconditionsandlimitstoaccesstoanduseofcertainkindsofdata.

There are also more general concerns associatedwiththeselectivityandpartialityofBigData.This issometimesreferredtoasthe“DigitalDivide,”whichreferstothefactthatpopulations’accesstoanduseofdigitaldatatendtovaryaccordingtofactorssuchasage,genderandfinancialcondition.Theavailabilityof a potentially very large sample does not ensurethatthesamplewillberepresentative,becausedataonlyreferstoICTusers–aself-selectedsampleofthewholepopulation.Theriskof“selectionbias”inherentintheuseofICT-generateddatainmigrationresearchundermines the external validity of such studies –althoughthenormallylargesamplesizemakesthemmorelikelytobeaccurate.Asaconsequence,policiescould be informed by partial evidence and non-representativedata.

Inspecificcases,suchasintheanalysisofinformationgathered from social media, the impossibility ofverifyingthetruthfulnessoftheinformationprovidedby users can also threaten the internal validityof empirical studies. Data collection and analysisconstitute particularly challenging tasks, given thecomplexity,velocityandvolumeofBigData.Furtherchallenges are represented by the integration ofinnovative kinds of data with traditional ones,the insertion of new studies in existing migrationtheoreticalframeworks(orthecreationofnewones)and,moregenerally,theneedtoensurethatBigData-derivedknowledgeisputincontextforpolicymakingpurposes. Finally, infrastructural challenges in data-sharing, management and security require morework and communication between researchers andpolicymakers(King,2011).

Conclusions

It iswidely recognizedthatpolicymakers lacktimelyandcomparabledataonmigration.Itisalsothecasethat much migration data is scattered within andbetweencountriesandisnotalwaysusedeffectivelybypolicymakers.BigDataaloneisnotthesolutiontothesechallenges,buttheexamplespresentedabovesuggestthatBigDatacanprovideveryusefulevidenceonemergingmigrationtrends.ThechallengeremainshowbesttoharnessthepotentialofusingBigData.Therearestillmanyquestions,includinghowwecanmakegreaterandmoreeffectiveuseofBigDatainthestudyofmigratorytrendswithinandacrosscountries,andhowBigDatacaninformanalysesoftheimpactof migration on the development of sending andreceivingStates,aswellasonmigrants’well-being.

TheopportunitiespresentedbyBigDatainmigrationresearch are matched by an equally significantnumber of issues and challengeswhich need to betackled:individualprivacyandethicalissues;personalsecurity issues in conflict situations; selectivity andpartialityofcollecteddata;infrastructuralchallengeshindering data collection, aggregation and sharingamongresearchers for replicationofstudies;onthemethodological side, selection bias and externalvalidity issues; integration of innovative withtraditionalkindsofdataforcomprehensiveanalysis;contextual knowledge for informed policymaking;and,finally,accuracyand truthfulnessofusers’ self-providedinformationonsocialmedia.n

ReferencesACAPS

2013 Call Detail Records: The use of mobile phone data to track and predict population displacement in disasters.Available from http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=5445.

Ben-David,A.2012 The Palestinian Diaspora on the Web:

Between de-territorialization and re-territorialization.Social Science Information,51:459–474.

28 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

BengtssonL.etal.2011 Improved response to disasters and

outbreaks by tracking populationmovements with mobile phone networkdata: A post-earthquake geospatial studyin Haiti. PLOS Medicine, 8(8): e1001083,doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001083.

BlumenstockJ.,N.EagleandM.Fafchamps2013 Motives for Mobile Phone-Based

Giving: Evidence in the Aftermath of Natural Disasters. Available fromwww.jblumenstock.com/files/papers/jblumenstock_mobilequakes.pdf.

Dekker,R.andG.Engbersen2013 How social media transform migrant

networks and facilitate migration. Global Networks,doi:10.1111/glob.12040.

Eagle,N.,Y.deMontjoyeandL.M.A.Bettencourt2009 Community computing: Comparisons

between rural and urban societies usingmobilephonedata. Computational Science and Engineering, 4:144–150. Availablefrom http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/down l oad? rep= rep1& t ype=pd f&doi=10.1.1.183.1723.

Hilbert,M.2013 BigDataforDevelopment:FromInformation

to Knowledge Societies. Available fromhttp://ssrn.com/abstract=2205145.

King,G.2011 Ensuring thedata-rich futureof the social

sciences. Science, 331(11):719–721, doi:10.1126/science.1197872.

Kirkpatrick,R.2013 Bigdatafordevelopment. Big Data,1(1):3–

4,doi:10.1089/big.2012.1502.

Laney,D.2001 3DDataManagement:ControllingVolume,

Velocity,andVariety.METAGroupFile949.Available from http://blogs.gartner.com/doug-laney/files/2012/01/ad949-3D-Data-Management-Controlling-Data-Volume-Velocity-and-Variety.pdf.

Latouzé,E.2012 “Big Data for Development: What May

Determine Success or Failure?” OECDTechnologyForesightpresentation,October22, 2012, Paris. Available from www.oecd.org/mwg-internal/de5fs23hu73ds/progress?id=O7fS9xGecB.

Lu,X.,etal.2013 Approaching the limit of predictability in

human mobility. Scientific Reports, No. 3,Article 2923. Available from www.nature.com/srep/2013/131011/srep02923/full/srep02923.html.

McGregor,E.andM.Siegel2013 Social Media and Migration Research.

UNU-MERIT Working Paper Series #2013-068. Available from www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2013/wp2013-068.pdf.

Nedelcu,M.2012 Migrants’ new transnational habitus:

Rethinking migration through acosmopolitan lens in the Digital Age.Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies,38(9):1339–1356.

Oiarzabal,P.J.2012 Diaspora Basques and online social

networks: An analysis of users of BasqueinstitutionaldiasporagroupsonFacebook.Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies,38(9):1469–1485.

OxfordMigrationObservatory2013 Migration in the News: Portrayal of

immigrants, migrants, asylum-seekers andrefugees in national British newspapers,2010-2012. Report. Available from http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/reports/migration-news.

Rinnawi,K.2012 ‘Instant nationalism’ and the ‘Cyber

Mufti’: The Arab Diaspora in Europe andtransnationalmedia. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies,38(9):1451–1467.

29Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

StateB.,I.WeberandE.Zagheni2013 “StudyinginternationalmobilitythroughIP

geo-location.” In: Proceedings of the sixthACM international conference on Websearchanddatamining,pp.265–274.

UNGlobalPulse2012 Big Data for Development: Challenges

and Opportunities?, UN Global Pulse,New York Paper. Available from www.ung l oba l pu l s e . o rg / s i t e s / de fau l t /f i l e s / B i g D a t a f o r D e v e l o p m e n t -GlobalPulseMay2012.pdf.

UNHigh-levelPanel2013 Report on the Post-2015 Development

Agenda 2013. Available from www.un.org/mwg-internal/de5fs23hu73ds/progress?id=pV59d7bffc.

Zagheni,E.etal.2014 Inferring International and Internal

Migration Patterns from Twitter Data.WWW 2014 Companion,7–11April2014.

Zagheni,E.andI.Weber2012 “You are where you e-mail: Using e-mail

data to estimate international migrationrates.” In: ACM Web Science Conferenceproceedings,25June2012.

30 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

Publications

Evaluating Village Health Funding Mechanisms in Mawlamyinegyun Township2014/66pagesEnglishAvailableforPDFdownload

Theoverallobjectiveofthisresearchistoanalysethe existing community-based health financingmechanisms in 60 villages in the AyeyarwadyDelta, Myanmar which were previously givenaccesstograntstoestablish“VillageHealthFunds”following cyclone Nargis. The evaluation reportinvestigates existing community mechanisms inthetownshipthatenablecommunitiestosupportemergency referrals of pregnant women andchildrentoaccesshealthcare,inordertoprovidea basis for further expansion and improvedcommunity case management. The outcomesof the researchare intended to informongoingsupport for community-based health financingandmakerecommendationsonhowtoimprovetheir use and sustainability, in order to reducefinancialbarriersforhealthaccess invulnerablecommunities. The researchusesqualitativeandquantitativedataandanalysistoinvestigateandreportonthefollowing factors: fundstatusandactivities;fundutilization;communityperceptionand contribution; sustainability; and the roleof partners. The research reveals that in morethan half of the villages, the health funds arestillmaintainedand functioning twoyearsafterthey were initially set up. This report includesseveral recommendations regarding successfulintervention strategies and suggestions on howsupport to community-based health financingcanbeimproved.

A New Global Partnership for Development: Factoring in the Contribution of Migration2014/84pages/EnglishISBN978-92-9068-693-4/ISSN1607-338XAvailableinhardcopyandforPDFdownload

Internationalmigrationisfrequentlydiscussedinassociationwithdevelopment.Therearesome232millioninternationalmigrantsintheworld(UNDESA,2013),andwheninternalmobilityisincludedthis number jumps toone in sevenpeopleon theplanet. Thesenumbers emphasize the increasing significance ofmigration. Yetthetopicremainsacomplexphenomenon.Greatvariationsintheconditions faced by migrants are mirrored in its developmentalimpacts.Furthermore,migrationcanalsobeseenasaproductofdevelopment.Fromtheearlymovementsofhunter-gatherers, tourbanization processes triggered by the industrial revolution, tothemovementofhealthworkerstriggeredbyageingpopulations,mobilityisacorepartofthehumanexperience.

Whenwetalkaboutmigrationanddevelopment inpolicycircleswe tend to focus on how we can enhance the positives andmitigatethenegatives.Indoingso,thereisoftenmoreofafocusonthemoretangiblechannelsthroughwhichmigrationcanimpactdevelopment: remittances, diaspora engagement and the highlyskilled, and less so on other less tangible areas such as socialremittances,andthereverserelationshipbetweenmigrationanddevelopment,wheredevelopmentimpactsmigration.

However, these areas merit further investigation, because theyleadustoconsiderwhattheevidencetellsusabouthowmigration,like technology or international trade, transforms realities.Additionally,internalmigrationhasnotbeengiventherecognitionitdeserveswithininternationalframeworks,particularlygiventhaturbanizationprocessesareinherentlylinkedtobothmigrationanddevelopment.

Itisclearthatmigrationshouldbepartofthediscussionsforthepost-2015 development agenda. However we should tread withcaution.Migrationisalsoatopicthatquestionsnationalsovereigntyand, as such, an emotive and controversial topic in parliamentsacrosstheworld.

31Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

2013 Survey on Environmental Migration2014/2pagesEnglishAvailableforPDFdownload

In 2013, IOM conducted a survey on environmentalmigration among its missions worldwide, as part ofIOM’s institutional knowledge management efforts andongoingpolicyandresearchworkintheareaofmigration,environment and climate change. The survey reveals theincreasingimportanceandrelevanceoftheissueinmanycountries and for many IOM offices worldwide. It alsodemonstratesconsiderablegapsandneedsintermsofdatacollectionandpolicyresponse.

Capacity-building Activities on Migration, Environment and Climate Change2014/6pagesEnglishAvailableforPDFdownload

IOM has launched a series of capacity-building trainingstargetingmidtoseniorlevelpolicymakersandpractitionersactive in environmental and/or migration areas. Thetrainings seek to provide participants with a basicunderstanding of migration, environment and climatechange concepts and terminology as well as concretetoolsthatcansupportnationalandregionalpolicymakingprocesses.ThisinitiativeisinlinewiththeoverallIOM’sgoaltosupporttheintegrationofhumanmobilityissueswithinclimatechangeandenvironmentalpolicies,and,viceversa,theinclusionofclimateandenvironmentalconcernswithinmigrationprocesses.

Centre Africain de Renforcement des Capacités - Synthèse des activités pour 2012-20132014/24pagesFrançaisPeutêtretéléchargéuniquementenPDF

Cette publication résume les activités du Centre Africain de Renforcement desCapacitésen2012-2013.Etablien2009à lademandedesEtatsAfricainsMembresdel’OIM,lesactivitésduACBCrelèventdetroispiliersdistinctsmaisétroitementliés.Enpremier lieu, leCentre fournituneexpertise techniqueen termesdegestiondelamigration et des frontières sous la formed’évaluations, de formations, d’ateliersainsiqueledéveloppementetl’installationduSystèmed’Analysedel’InformationetdesDonnéesMigratoires (MIDAS, auparavant connu sous lenomdeSIRP -Systèmed’informationauxfrontièresdéveloppéparl’OIM).Ensuite,leCentreestengagédanslarecherchesurlesmigrationsetledéveloppementd’outilsdegestiondelamigration.Enfin,leCentres’efforcedesensibilisersurlesquestionsdemigrationsetdegestiondesfrontièresàtraversdesactionsdeplaidoyeretdenombreuxpartenariats.

32 Vol. IV, Number 2, April–June 2014MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE

Las Bases del Derecho Internacional sobre Migración2014/578pagesISBN978-92-9068-680-4Español40dólaresEE.UU.Disponibleenformatopapelopuedeserdescargadoenformatopdf

El derecho internacional sobre lamigración es un importante ámbito del derechointernacional, que ha despertado un enorme interés en los últimos años. Estelibrosehaescritoteniendoenmentetodaunagamadeperspectivasparaquienesdeseancomprenderelmarcojurídicoquerigelamigración.Vadestinadoaquienescarecendeconocimientosenesteámbitodeestudiosyquedeseantenerunaideageneraldesusnumerososcomponentes,asícomoaquienesposeenconocimientosespecializadosenunadeterminadaramadelderechointernacionalsobremigraciónpero necesitan comprender el modo en que su especialización se interrelacionaconlasdemásramasdeestadisciplina,esdecir:aquienessededicanalestudiodelderechoylamigración,alosencargadosdelaformulacióndepolíticas,alpersonaldelosserviciosdiplomáticosyconsulares,asícomoalasorganizacionesinternacionales.

Además, ha sido escrito por especialistas en derecho sobre migración, bajo laconduccióndeexpertosinternacionalesderenombre,loquehapermitidocombinarlos conocimientos enderecho internacional sobremigración y políticas de esferasacadémicas, internacionales, intergubernamentales,organizacionesregionalesynogubernamentales,asícomodegobiernosnacionales.Tambiéncomprendeestudiosdecasos,mapas,recuadrosnarrativosyreferenciassobrelasfuentes,quepropicianunacomprensióncabaldelderechoenestecontexto.

MPP Readers’ SurveyMigration Policy Practice waslaunchedalmostthreeyearsagoandtheeditorswouldnowliketoinvitereaderstospareacoupleofminutestoparticipateinashortreaders’satisfactionsurvey.

Thepurposeofthissurvey,whichcanbetakenanonymously,istohelpusidentifyourreaders’profiles,theinstitutionstheyrepresentandtheirprimaryinterestsinourjournal.Thesurvey’sresponseswillcontribute,inparticular,toadjustingandimproving,asappropriate,MPP’scontentandstyle,andthusthereader’sexperience.

Shouldyouwishtoparticipateinthissurvey,pleaseclick here.

Thankyou.