Net migration to the United Kingdom has burst through 330,000, the Official for National Statistics (ONS) has announced today. The news means that the government drifts even further away from the 2010 and 2015 election manifesto pledges to bring net immigration into the UK down to the “tens of thousands”.
Immigration is up to 636,000 up 84,000 from the previous quarter. The number of people leaving the country was down by 9,000 to 307,000 (down 9,000), in the year ending (YE) March 2015.
The net migration figure has increased by over a quarter of a million people from last year, and the country has seen a start uptick in the number of EU citizens coming to the UK. The figure now stands at 183,000, up 53,000 from last year.
The ONS reports that the “increase in non-EU net migration to 196,000 (up 39,000) was also statistically significant”.
And despite most of the political and media establishment claiming that it would not happen, “53,000 Romanian and Bulgarian citizens immigrated to the UK in YE March 2015, a statistically significant increase and almost double the 28,000 in the previous 12 months.”
UKIP leader Nigel Farage told Breitbart London: “These figures reflect borderless Britain and total impotence of the British government. If open borders are not part of the Cameron [Eu referendum] renegotiation then what’s the point of it?”
The numbers rely on passenger survey data, and do not account for illegal entries into the United Kingdom.
There were 25,771 asylum applications up until June this year, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous 12 months. The largest number of applications came from of Eritreans (3,568), followed by Pakistanis (2,302) and Syrians (2,204). 11,600 people were granted asylum.
The news comes as it was revealed that the number of foreign-born citizens in the United Kingdom is set to surpass 8 million for the first time.
More to follow…
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