Migration statistics in Iran: current limitations, possible solutions

Migration data resources in Iran include census, sample studies and administrative data each of which have some limitations: national migration data is generally obtained from censuses. It is conducted every 10 years and doesn’t reflect current trends. International migration data comprises of people who born abroad and live in Iran, but it doesn’t show origin-destination flows, length of migration and mistakenly includes Iranians born abroad who return back to Iran. It also lacks information about people who born in Iran and then emigrates. Sample studies have limitation of covering all migrants unless the survey is carried out in a national level. Administrative data on legal international migrants accompanies limitation of unadjusted travel justifications issued due to changing residential intentions by the use of legal loopholes. In addition, administering organizations are not obligated to publish migration statistics they routinely collect. This paper discusses possible solutions for these limitations on the base of organizational relations in Iran. The study main method is a survey conducted among 530 data migration professionals including practitioners, researchers, experts and university professors. The results are discussed in three sites: migrants entering Iran, movements inside Iran and migrants leaving Iran.