The Failure of Migration Statistics to Capture Individual Realities

• Migration statistics often track administrative events rather than individual trajectories, leading to a fragmented understanding of migrant populations and their needs.
• Discrepancies between official estimates, such as those during the Ceuta border crossings, demonstrate the difficulty in dimensioning resources for housing, healthcare, and protection.

Limitations of Administrative Data

• Migration tracking tools are primarily administrative instruments for service delivery rather than dedicated analytical tools for monitoring migration flows.
• Border agencies like Frontex record border crossing attempts rather than unique individuals, resulting in duplicate counts and a lack of precise tracking after initial encounters.
• Administrative systems fail to accurately categorize migrants, often conflating those who entered irregularly with those who entered legally but overstayed their visas.

Policy and Humanitarian Implications

• The inability to maintain continuous data on migrant locations and status creates significant barriers during emergencies, as seen when migrants struggle to prove residency during natural disasters due to lack of documentation.
• Official numbers often omit individuals outside of institutional care, such as those staying with relatives or in the streets, resulting in inaccurate assessments of humanitarian needs.
• Experts note that there is a critical lack of data not just on the migration phenomenon itself, but also on the follow-up, evaluation, and efficacy of the government policies implemented to address it.