The s
ixth meeting of the MARRI Permanent Working Group on Migration Statistics (PWGMS) held on 18 December 2024, brought together statisticians and analysts from the Statistical Agencies and the Ministries of Interior/Security of the MARRI Participants. The main focus of the meeting was to assess the progress made in implementing tasks, and to propose amendments of the PWG MS Terms of Reference.
The Acting Director of MARRI RC and Chair of the PWGMS Simona Krstevska welcomed the delegations and expressed gratitude for the commitment and efforts demonstrated through this period. The meeting continued with a presentation by the MARRI RC Migration Data and Policy Analyst Aleksandar Kostadinov, focusing on the new interactive dashboard that shows the trends of asylum applications from the region to the EU. Following his presentation, delegations shared their current status on data collection processes and data availability on migration and international protection. The discussions also covered topics related to the modalities and timeline for exchanging migration statistics among MARRI Participants.
In the closing remarks, the Chair of the PWG MS Simona Krstevska encouraged the participants to engage actively in operationalizing these processes, emphasizing that collaborative approach is essential for enhancing data exchange and harmonizing of the statistical methodologies with those of the EU.