BRIEFING - Who Counts as a Migrant? Definitions and their Consequences

The use of the term ‘migrant’ in the public discourse is extremely loose and often conflates issues of immigration status, race, ethnicity and asylum. [...] Length of stay: In its analyses of migration into and out of Britain, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) uses the UN definition of ‘long-term international migrant’: “A person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year [….] so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence (UN 1998)”. [...] Meanwhile the UK government’s official estimates of migration include asylum seekers in counts of migrants entering the UK, while attempting to adjust the total numbers to exclude those who stay in the UK for less than a year and thus do not qualify as migrants defined by length of stay. [...] UK PAGE 5 BRIEFING: Who Counts as a Migrant? Definitions and their Consequences With such a variety of definitions and loose usage, there is not a straightforward mapping of migration data onto the subjects of public debate and concern. [...] The mission of COMPAS is to conduct high quality research in order to develop theory and knowledge, inform policy-making and public debate, and engage users of research within the field of migration.