Surveys,<sup>76</sup> Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS),<sup>77</sup> and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS).<sup>78</sup> The advantage of these surveys is that they cover a wide range of countries and are conducted in a regular or systematic manner (UNSD 2014). There are only a few cases where modules or questions on forced displacement have been integrated into survey instruments (most notably in Somalia, Uganda, West Bank and Gaza, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Ghana, as well as health surveys in Albania, Ukraine and Moldova).

There are several challenges associated with ‘mainstreaming’ forced displacement into household surveys: (a) there is huge demand for adding sector-specific or thematic modules to international surveys; (b) it is relatively difficult to convince national statistical agencies to modify their county-specific surveys; (c) disaggregating survey results by specific vulnerable groups (e.g. refugees, IDPs, migrant populations) requires these distinctions to be integrated into the sampling frame and sometimes there is insufficient information to do this or a lack of resources to expand the sample size; (d) lack of access to displacementaffected areas; and (e) difficulties associated with integrating an inherently political topic into less controversial surveys.

# **_Border crossings_**

The registration of people crossing internationals borders is conducted in many countries, and in some cases these data are used to estimate migration flows. Identifying refugees among people crossing borders is a significant challenge, particularly if individuals decide not to apply for asylum or refugee status (UNSD 2014). Additional problems associated with the collection of data on border crossings include: (a) difficulties distinguishing migrants from other people crossing a border, such as tourists, commuters, traders and truck drivers; (b) lack of capacity of many border posts and officials to handle large migration flows; (c) less scrutiny and diligence of emigration flows compared with immigration flow; and (d) lack of tight controls at most borders and the high incidence of undocumented or irregular crossings (UNSD 2014).

# **_Administrative records and registers_**

Many countries have administrative records or registers of immigrants that could generate statistics on asylum-seekers and refugees. In particular, data on residence permits issued to refugees or asylumseekers could be used to generate statistics on both flows and stocks of refugees.<sup>79</sup> For example, Eurostat collects and disseminates data on residence permits granted to those with refugee status and subsidiary protection (UNSD 2014).

# **_General population registers_**

In a small but growing number of countries, information from the central population register is the main source of migration statistics.<sup>80</sup> While population registers may generate statistics on both internal and international migration (if they record changes of residence, and international arrivals and departures) they do not typically record reasons for movement. However, it may be possible to link data from the central population register to those from immigration or border authorities to identify refugees and asylum76 Using standard ILO definitions, Labor Force Surveys collect data on work-related issues and provide a basis for measuring employment and unemployment indicators. They are typically conducted monthly in developed countries and quarterly or annually in developing countries.

77 Supported by USAID and implemented by ICF International, the DHS Program has collected, analyzed and disseminated data on population, health, HIV and nutrition through more than 300 surveys in over 90 countries.

78 MICS is an initiative of UNICEF that assists countries in collecting and analyzing health and education data in order to fill data gaps for monitoring the situation of children and women.

79 Many refugee hosting countries issue a form of identification, either specific to refugees or based on national identification documents or those issued to non-national residents. In many cases where such documents are not issued, refugee identity cards are issued in collaboration with UNHCR.

80 A population register provides a mechanism for the continuous recording of selected data on the resident population including a unique identification number, date of birth, sex, marital status, place of birth, place of residence, citizenship and language and possibly also socio-economic data, such as occupation or education.