The UNHCR Results Monitoring Survey (RMS) is a household-level survey on persons of concern (PoC) to UNHCR directly or indirectly assisted by UNHCR, including refugees and asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, returnees, stateless and others of concern. The objective of the survey is to monitor impact and outcome level indicators on education, healthcare, livelihoods, protection concerns, shelter, and water and sanitation. The results contribute to an evidence base for reporting against UNHCR’s multi-year strategies to key stakeholders.

The RMS can be implemented in any operational context. A standard structured questionnaire has been developed for the RMS, which can be conducted as a stand-alone survey or flexibly integrated with other data collection exercises. The data includes indicators collected at both the household and individual (household-member) level, and results are statistically representative.

This RMS took place in Ethiopia from June 2022 to August 2022. The surveyed population was refugees and asylum seekers in Ethiopia. The survey uses a cross-sectional, stratified two stage cluster random sampling design. The sample frame was ProGres which covers the majority of refugees and asylum seekers in the country. Data subjects were intereviewed over the phone.

This dataset is the anonymized version of the original data.

Addressing consistency in the application of the law, former Attorney General Robert Jackson told Congress in 1940: "It is obviously repugnant to one's sense of justice that the judgment meted out . . . should depend in large part on a purely fortuitous circumstance; namely the personality of the particular judge before whom the case happens to come for disposition." Yet in asylum cases, which can spell the difference between life and death, the outcome apparently depends in large measure on which government official decides the claim. In many cases, the most important moment in an asylum case is the instant in which a clerk randomly assigns an application to a particular asylum officer or immigration judge. This study analyzes databases of decisions from all four levels of the asylum adjudication process: 133,000 decisions involving nationals from eleven key countries rendered by 884 asylum officers over a seven-year period; 140,000 decisions of 225 immigration judges over a four-and-a-half-year period; 126,000 decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals over a six-year period; and 4215 decisions of the U.S. courts of appeals during 2004 and 2005. The analysis reveals amazing disparities in grant rates, even when different adjudicators in the same office each considered large numbers of applications from nationals of the same country. For example, in one regional asylum office, 60% of the officers decided in favor of Chinese applicants at rates that deviated by more than 50% from that region's mean grant rate for Chinese applicants, with some officers granting asylum to no Chinese nationals, while other officers granted asylum in as many as 68% of their cases. Similarly, Colomb ian asylum applicants whose cases were adjudicated in the federal immigration court in Miami had a 5% chance of prevailing with one of that court's judges and an 88% chance of prevailing before another judge in the same building. Half of the Miami judges deviated by more than 50% from the court's mean grant rate for Colombian cases. Using cross-tabulations based on public biographies, the paper also explores correlations between sociological characteristics of individual immigration judges and their grant rates. The cross-tabulations show that the chance of winning asylum was strongly affected not only by the random assignment of a case to a particular immigration judge, but also in very large measure by the quality of an applicant's legal representation, by the gender of the immigration judge, and by the immigrati on judge's work experience prior to appointment. In their conclusion, the authors do not recommend enforced quota systems for asylum adjudicators, but they do make recommendations for more comprehensive training, more effective and independent appellate review, and other reforms that would further professionalize the adjudication system.

Temporary residents in the humanitarian population who request refugee protection upon or after arrival in Canada. This data should not be used as an indication of the number of asylum claimants residing in a province or territory. The table pulls data on number of asylum claimants who have submit a valid claim by year and province of claim. The data set may include individuals who have claimed asylum and since obtained a referral to the IRB, individuals who have been determined to be protected persons by IRPA, as well as those who may have since become a permanent resident may still be included in the claimant count in the year in which their asylum claim was made. Please note that in these datasets, the figures have been suppressed or rounded to prevent the identification of individuals when the datasets are compiled and compared with other publicly available statistics. Values between 0 and 5 are shown as “--“ and all other values are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5. This may result to the sum of the figures not equating to the totals indicated.

Abstract

The Zimbabwe: Results Monitoring Survey (RMS) 2023 is a household-level survey conducted by UNHCR to monitor key impact and outcome indicators among refugees, asylum seekers, and other forcibly displaced persons in Zimbabwe. The survey was implemented in two key locations: Harare and the Tongogara Refugee Settlement in Chipinge, using computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) to collect data on mobility, housing, basic needs, disability, and safety. A total of 226 households were surveyed in Harare with a 100% response rate, while 524 out of 600 sampled households responded in Tongogara, achieving an 87% response rate.The data, collected between October and November 2023, provides essential insights into the living conditions and challenges faced by the forcibly displaced population. Rigorous data processing and validation ensured high quality, making this dataset a valuable resource for guiding UNHCR’s operations, informing policy decisions, and supporting evidence-based programming in Zimbabwe.

Geographic coverage

Harare and Tongogara Refugee Settlement, Zimbabwe

Analysis unit

Household

Universe

Refugees, asylum seekers, and other forcibly displaced persons residing in Harare and Tongogara Refugee Settlement.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Probability: Stratified sampling. Households were sampled using systematic sampling based on a listing exercise, ensuring comprehensive and representative coverage of the refugee population in Harare and Tongogara.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire covered key indicators on health, education, livelihoods, protection, and basic needs, tailored to the local context and operational requirements. Indicators were assessed at both household and individual levels.

Since the 1980s, the Office of Refugee Resettlement1 (ORR) has conducted the Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR), which collects information on refugees during their first five years after arrival in the U.S. The ASR is the only scientifically-collected source of national data on refugees’ progress toward self-sufficiency and integration. ORR uses the ASR results alongside other information sources to fulfill its Congressionally-mandated reporting requirement following the Refugee Act of 1980.

Units of Response: Refugee Households

Type of Data: Survey

Tribal Data: No

Periodicity: Annual

Demographic Indicators: Ethnicity;Geographic Areas;Household Income;Household Size

SORN: Not Applicable

Data Use Agreement: https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/131025/version/V1/download/terms?path=/openicpsr/131025/fcr:versions/V1&type=project

Data Use Agreement Location: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/programs/refugees/annual-survey-refugees

Granularity: Household;Individual

Spatial: United States

Geocoding: Census region;Country of Origin;Zip Code

The Djibouti Results Monitoring Survey (RMS) of 2023 aimed to assess changes in the lives of asylum seekers and refugees, supporting the UNHCR's strategic and advocacy efforts. Conducted between December 2023 and January 2024, the survey covered 2,072 households across Ali-Addeh, Holl Holl, and Markazi. Utilizing face-to-face interviews, the survey collected data on various aspects such as health, education, and protection, providing a comprehensive understanding of the living conditions and needs of the surveyed population. The findings will inform future programming and policy decisions in Djibouti.

Supplementary material, surveydata, questionnaire, and codebook for the manuscript "Does the Local Presence of Asylum Seekers affect Attitudes toward Asylum Seekers? Results from a Natural Experiment". Condiationally accepted for publictaion in "European Sociological Review". Georeferenced data may not be provided due to privacy restrictions.

Abstract

In December 2023, UNHCR conducted a comprehensive Results Monitoring Survey (RMS) in Burkina Faso to assess the impact and outcomes of its assistance programs across various groups, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), host communities, refugees, and asylum seekers. This household-level survey collected data on education, healthcare, livelihoods, protection concerns, shelter, and water and sanitation. Utilizing a standard structured questionnaire, the RMS incorporated both household and individual-level indicators, ensuring statistically representative results. The sample included 663 refugees and asylum seekers, 1,343 IDPs, and 1,209 members of host communities. Data collection was performed using both Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) and Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) methods.

Geographic coverage

Whole country.

Analysis unit

Household

Universe

All forcibly displaced and stateless individuals, including refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and members of host communities, residing in Burkina Faso at the time of the survey. The survey covers 663 refugees and asylum seekers, 1,343 IDPs, and 1,209 members of host communities.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling procedure for the Burkina Faso Results Monitoring Survey (RMS) - 2023 utilized different methods for each population group. For refugees and asylum seekers (RAS), a sample of 663 individuals was drawn from the UNHCR ProGresv4 registration database, which maintains up-to-date records of refugees and asylum seekers. For internally displaced persons (IDPs), a sample of 1,343 individuals was sourced from the “Conseil National de Secours d'Urgence et de Réhabilitation (CONASUR)” database, which registers IDPs at the village level. Lastly, the host community sample, consisting of 1,209 individuals, was selected using a two-stage cluster sampling technique based on enumeration areas from the 2019 population census. This approach ensured statistically representative coverage across all population groups, with data collected through both face-to-face (CAPI) and phone-based (CATI) interviews, depending on feasibility and access.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Telephone Interview [cati],Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

Income, food consumption, expenditures, assets, community relations, wellbeing, resilience, mental health, health, accommodation, protection, and education

Asylum interviews within the asylum procedure are associated with psychological stress for traumatized asylum seekers. This study investigates the impact of asylum interviews on the mental health in a sample of 40 traumatized asylum seekers. The comparison group consisted of refugees (N=10) that had not been invited to an asylum interview. Additionally, the moderating effects of trial-related variables such as perceived justice of the trial, stress of giving testimony, and stress of waiting for the asylum interview were examined. Participants were assessed on average 10 days before (t1) and 16 days after (t2) the asylum interview. Chi-square tests for dichotomous and categorical variables were used to compare the descriptive statistics of the two groups. To investigate symptom changes from t1 to t2, paired t-tests were calculated. The magnitude of effects was measured by Cohen's effect size d within groups. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted for demographic and trial variables predicting posttraumatic intrusions, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Data showed a significant increase in posttraumatic intrusions and a significant decrease in posttraumatic avoidance and hyperarousal symptoms from t1 to t2. No significant symptom changes in the posttraumatic stress disorder subscales were found in the comparison group. The results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed perceived justice of the interview to predict the increase of intrusions and the number of experienced traumata and testimony stress to predict posttraumatic avoidance. The present findings underline the stressful impact of asylum interviews on traumatized refugees. They indicate that the asylum interview might decrease posttraumatic avoidance and trigger posttraumatic intrusions, thus highlight the importance of ensuring that the already vulnerable group of traumatized refugees needs to be treated with empathy during their asylum interview.

These data were compiled within the scope of the author's doctoral thesis research on ‘Turkish Migration Policy’. These data reflect the numerical results of the immigration and asylum policy of Republican Turkey. The purpose of compiling the data is to determine the results of the Turkish migration policy in the context of immigration and asylum policies in the historical process. The language and explanations of the table are in Russian.

Notes: No official statistics on Greek-Turkish exchanges between 1923 and 1925 were published. The Turkish State Institute of Statistics stopped publishing statistics on migrants in 1961. Figures after this date can be obtained from reports and statistics published by the relevant state institutions. In 1939, after the amendment of the Settlement Law No. 2510, migrants and refugees were given the freedom to choose their place of residence. However, official statistics on migrants whose resettlement was subsidised by the state were published in detail after 1945 until 1961.

Abstract

The 2023 Results Monitoring Survey (RMS) in the Republic of Congo aimed to monitor key impact and outcome indicators related to education, healthcare, livelihoods, protection concerns, shelter, and water and sanitation for refugees and asylum seekers. The survey was conducted between January 17 and February 9, 2023, targeting 1,900 households across Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, Likouala, and Cuvette. The survey achieved interviews with 1,473 households (77.53% coverage), with data collected through Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI). The results contribute to an evidence base for UNHCR’s multi-year strategies in the country.

Geographic coverage

Brazzaville, Cuvette, Likouala, Point Noire

Analysis unit

Household

Universe

All people of concern

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The 2023 RMS in the Republic of Congo employed a probability-based stratified sampling method. The sampling frame was drawn from UNHCR’s registration database, targeting both asylum seekers and refugees. The survey aimed to interview 1,900 households across four departments: Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, Likouala, and Cuvette. Households were stratified by geographic area to ensure a representative sample for each region. Due to logistical challenges in accessing some locations, the sample size was adjusted during the fieldwork. In total, 1,473 households were successfully interviewed, representing a response rate of 77.53%.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

Income, food consumption, expenditures, assets, community relations, wellbeing, resilience, mental health, health, accommodation, protection, and education

Response rate

The survey aimed to reach 1,900 households but successfully interviewed 1,473, achieving a response rate of 77.53%. The lower response rate was mainly due to logistical difficulties in accessing certain remote areas, which affected the ability to cover the entire planned sample

Abstract

The UNHCR Results Monitoring Surveys (RMS) is a household-level survey on people with and for whom UNHCR works or who benefit from direct or indirect assistance provided by UNHCR, including refugees and asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, returnees, stateless and others of concern. The objective of the survey is to monitor impact and outcome level indicators on education, healthcare, livelihoods, protection concerns, shelter, and water and sanitation. The results contribute to an evidence base for reporting against UNHCR's multi-year strategies to key stakeholders. This RMS took place in Peru from April 2023 to May 2023 at national level.

Analysis unit

Household and individual

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

The questionnaire contained the following sections: Survey Information , Socio-economic Indicators & Mobility, Information on the well-being of the household, Habitable and affordable housing, Habitable housing and access to basic services, Health Services and Social Protection, Perceptions on safety and gender-based violence.

Little theoretical or empirical work examines migration policy in the developing world. We develop and test a theory that distinguishes the drivers of policy reform and factors influencing the direction of reform. We introduce an original dataset of de jure asylum and refugee policies covering more than 90 developing countries that are presently excluded from existing indices of migration policy. Examining descriptive trends in the data, we find that unlike in the Global North, forced displacement policies in the Global South have become more liberal over time. Empirically, we test the determinants of asylum policymaking, bolstering our quantitative results with qualitative evidence from interviews in Uganda. A number of key findings emerge. Intense, proximate civil wars are the primary impetus for asylum policy change in the Global South. Liberalizing changes are made by regimes led by political elites whose ethnic kin confront discrimination or violence in neighboring countries. There is no generalizable evidence that developing countries liberalize asylum policy in exchange for economic assistance from Western actors. Distinct frameworks are needed to understand migration policymaking in developing versus developed countries.

Abstract

The RMS conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between February and April 2023 aimed to gather household-level data on forcibly displaced and stateless individuals. Its objective was to monitor impact and outcome indicators related to education, healthcare, livelihoods, protection concerns, shelter, and water and sanitation, contributing to UNHCR’s reporting against multi-year strategies to various stakeholders. The survey can be implemented in diverse operational contexts and utilizes a standard structured questionnaire, adaptable for standalone use or integration with other data collection efforts. Data collection includes indicators at both household and individual levels, ensuring statistical representativeness. The population of interest comprised refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people (IDPs), refugee returnees, and host communities, each sampled separately. Refugees and asylum-seekers were sampled from UNHCR’s registration database (proGres), stratified by areas. Refugee returnees, IDPs, and host communities were sampled using lists provided by the operation in each area, with systematic sampling conducted if sampled households were unreachable. Limited data collection occurred in some areas due to restricted lists or security concerns. In total, 14,040 households were sampled, with 13,570 households interviewed. Of these, 5,456 out of 5,740 sampled refugee and asylum-seeker households were interviewed, along with 4,865 IDP households, 949 refugee returnee households out of 1,090 sampled, and 2,300 host community households out of 2,315 sampled. Data collection utilized Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI).

Analysis unit

Household

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling strategy for the RMS 2023 involved dividing refugee settlements into four zones, randomly selecting blocks within each zone, and systematically sampling households within these blocks. For phone-based interviews, lists provided by UNHCR were randomized, and respondents were selected proportionately by nationality. This approach ensured comprehensive coverage and statistical representativeness.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face interview

Research instrument

Income, food consumption, expenditures, assets, community relations, wellbeing, resilience, mental health, health, accommodation, protection, and education

The data and scripts provided in this archive replicate the analysis in "Europe's migration crisis: local contact and out-group hostility" (L. Rudolph and M. Wagner). Paper Abstract: Does a large influx of asylum seekers in the local community lead to a backlash in public opinion towards foreign populations? We assess the effects of asylum seeker presence using original survey and macro-level municipality data from Austria, exploiting exogenous elements of the placement of asylum seekers on the municipality level. Methodologically, we draw on entropy balancing for causal identification. Our findings are threefold. First, respondents in municipalities receiving asylum seekers report substantially higher exposure on average, but largely without the stronger contact that would allow for meaningful interaction. Second, hostility towards asylum seekers on average increased in areas that housed them. Third, this backlash spilled over: general attitudes towards Muslims and immigrants are less favourable in contexts with local asylum seeker presence, while vote intention for the main anti-immigration party is higher. Our findings go beyond existing work by examining contact directly as a mechanism, by showing a backlash effect in the medium term, and by focusing on a broad set of attitudinal and behavioral measures. Our results point to a need to design policy interventions that minimise citizen backlash against rapid migration inflows.

Introduction. Europe has been dealing with an increasing number of refugees during the past 5 years. The timing of screening and vaccination of refugees is debated by many professionals, however refugees’ perspectives on health issues are infrequently taken into account. In this study, we aimed to investigate asylum seekers’ perspectives on infectious diseases screening and vaccination policies. Materials and Methods. Interviews were conducted in Greece and the Netherlands. Asylum seekers and recently arrived refugees were approached and informed with the help of interpreters; consent forms were acquired. The survey focused on demographic data, vaccination status, screening policies and prevention of infectious diseases. Results. A total of 61 (43 male, 70.5%) refugees (30 Afghanis, 16 Syrian, 7 Erithrean) were interviewed. Mean age was 35.2 years (SD 13.5) and 50% had received primary or secondary education, while 24.6% received none. Median time after arrival in Greece and the Netherlands was 24 months (IQR 8.5-28). 44 out of 61 (72.1) participants were willing to be vaccinated after arrival in Europe, 26 preferred vaccination and screening to be performed at the point of entry. The need for screening and vaccination was perceived higher amongst participants in Greece (100% vs 43.3%) due to living conditions leading to increased risk of outbreaks. Conclusion. Participants were willing to communicate their perspectives and concerns. Screening and vaccination programs could be more effective when implemented shortly after arrival and by involving asylum seekers and refugees when developing screening and vaccination interventions.

Asylum seekers are often portrayed as “bogus refugees” who try to abuse a destination country’s generosity and protection. We scrutinize the use and effect of such an abuse policy narrative in Swiss asylum referendums by examining the conveyance of this narrative by political elite actors (meso level) and its effect on citizens’ opinion formation (micro level). On the meso level, our analysis shows that political organizations rely more strongly on the abuse policy narrative (1) if a referendum proposal contains more tightening as opposed to streamlining policies and (2) if their political ideology is more to the right. Whereas the first finding also applies at the micro level, voters from both the right and the center are more likely to base their decision on the abuse policy narrative. This result is of importance as centrist voters usually play a decisive role in the outcome of asylum referendums.