2024 Technical Meeting of Focal Points on International Labour Migration Statistics in ASEAN

Background and Rationale

The International Labour Migration Statistics (ILMS) Database in ASEAN has been published annually since December 2014 as a special collection on the ILO’s central database, ILOSTAT, as well as through the AP-Migration web-portal.

In validating, annotating and gathering together the information from the relevant surveys and administrative records produced in ASEAN Member States, the ILMS Database in ASEAN fills an important knowledge gap for national and regional policy-makers and for the broader research community. The 2023 round of data collection for the ILMS Database in ASEAN was successfully completed earlier this year, and data has been published on the ILOSTAT portal.

The ILMS database was initially created in 1998 by ILOSTAT, EUROSTAT, UNSD and UNECE, and regularly updated to include data from 94 countries until 2006. The ILO’s ASEAN TRIANGLE reinvigorated the ILMS database for ASEAN in 2012 and has since then continuously highlighted the strategic importance of labour migration statistics in the region and beyond. In July 2018, ILO Statistical Department’s (STATISTICS) decided to restart collection of ILMS at global level. Reinvigoration of the ILMS database at global level has been important both for SDG monitoring, national planning, and global evidence base on labour migration. The 2024 round of ILMS collection will be launched by ILOSTAT in September 2024. Statistics from official sources, including labour force surveys, censuses and administrative datasets, are collected on International Labour Migration Questionnaires (ILMQ) on the ILOSTAT STaRS platform.

Collection of ILMS data in ASEAN is done annually with the help of a network of ILMS focal points in national institutions in ASEAN Member States. This network of focal points was established in 2013 and has since met nearly annually. The regional meetings allow for an update on data coverage, gaps and areas of support needed, as well as different thematic discussions related to the ILMS database.

The “2024 Technical Meeting of Focal Points on ILMS in ASEAN” will be convened on 29 and 30 October 2024 as a hybrid online/ in-person meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

© ILO

© ILO

Objectives and focal areas

As in previous annual meetings, the 2024 regional ILMS meeting will provide an overview of the overall status of data submissions and gaps and identify next steps per country, whilst highlighting potential areas of support needed. This year the meeting will also focus on analysis of data from the ILMS database, highlighting the links and the implications on analytical potential from different data sources and data submissions. The meeting will include one-to-one technical support sessions between ILO specialist/ consultant and country focal points to discuss country-specific issues and support needs.

The overall objectives of the Meeting are to:

• Share global and regional updates on collection of labour migration statistics,
• Review the current status of the ILMS database in ASEAN,
• Assess lessons learned from the 2023 round of ILM collection in ASEAN,
• Identify ways to further improve data collection and sharing among ASEAN Member States, with a particular focus on analysis of data from the ILMS database,
• Discuss next steps in improving quality and sex- and other disaggregation of data sources at country level, and
• Assist ILMS focal points for the 2024 round of ILMS data collection

Participants

The Meeting will bring together representatives from national governments, the ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Statistics, and the ILO. Member states’ participants will ideally be the original (or prospective future) ILMS focal points from each country, including the Ministry of Labour and other Ministries responsible for data collection (e.g. National Statistical Office, Office of Immigration, etc.).