Asylum and migrations: collection and analysis of Community statistics, action plan

The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the own-initiative report by Arie OOSTLANDER (EPP-ED, Netherlands) on Community statistics on migration. The resolution was adopted by 314 votes in favour, 15 against with 66 abstentions. (Please see the document dated 07/10/03.) Parliament felt that all statistics must be transparent, i.e. they must be accessible and intelligible to the general public, with any exceptions being accepted only in instances where the privacy of the individual is at stake. It noted the concerns of non-governmental organisations with regard to the sharing of data on victims of smuggling and trafficking with Member States, given that it is of the utmost importance to assure confidentiality of this information. Although non-governmental organisations have information on smuggling and trafficking, this information is yet not collected in a systematic manner. Governmental and non-governmental organisations publish statistics which are difficult to read together, for example because they sometimes provide information about asylum requests but not about temporary protection. Eurostat must be given a coordinating role in the publication of clear, comprehensive, objective and comparable statistics, with no actor, as a data provider, being able to claim a pre-eminent role. In this connection, it is important to pay attention to the integrity of Eurostat as an organisation in order to guarantee confidence in the data published. Finally, Parliament asked the Commission to take the necessary initiatives based on the Brussels declaration on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, in particular, on the establishment of a European database for missing persons, in conjunction with INTERPOL and EUROPOL, which would include specially recorded details of missing persons who are believed to be victims of traffickers.�