POLICY BRIEF October 2023 Communicating on Migration: A case for communicating clearly ABSTRACT The words we use to discuss any issue have a bearing on how we unders­tand it, and this is particularly true of migration debates, where the terms we use can be infuriatin­gly vague – creating generalised impressions of“who people are” that can be entirely misleading and lead to policy decisions that may be misguided, affect the rights and opportunities of individuals or even place lives at risk. This paper argues that terminology matters in the policymaking process, and that nuance and clarity are vitally important. It sets out suggested guidelines for policymakers and media dealing with the issue of migration. AUTHOR Rob McNeil Researcher and consultant specialising in migration in the media and Deputy Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society(COMPAS)