London: India is the most common country of birth for migrants born outside the UK with 7,93,000 India-born UK residents recorded over the last year, an official report said in London on thursday.
According to latest statistics released by UK's Office of National Statistics (ONS), net migration to the UK hit an all-time high with 3,30,000 people moving to Britain in the year ending March 2015, compared to 2,36,000 in the same period a year ago.
It found that net migration of EU citizens was 1,83,000, up 53,000 from the previous period, but the increase from countries outside the EU, like India, was lower at 39,000 adding up to a total of 1,96,000 residents recorded in 2014-15.
Polish is the most common non-British nationality, with 8,53,000 residents (including those born in the UK) describing their nationality as Polish.
"These stark figures are deeply disappointing. While these figures underline the challenges we need to meet to reduce net migration, they should also act as a further wake-up call for the EU," said UK immigration minister James Brokenshire.
"Current flows of people across Europe are on a scale we haven't seen since the end of World War Two. This is not sustainable and risks the future economic development of other EU member states," he said.
In 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron had said in a speech that he was giving a "no ifs, no buts" promise that he would bring immigration numbers down to "levels our country can manage".
He has been under immense pressure to cut net migration, which has only been mounting despite a slew of government measures.
This includes a new immigration bill to introduce a skills levy on all new migrants to be used to train British labour to fill the gaps in shortage occupations.
The latest ONS figure surpassed the previous record of 320,000 seen in the year ending June 2005.
The government's immigration policy came under attack from UK business chiefs, who called on a new comprehensive review.
The Institute of Directors (IoD) along with think tank British Future asked for a better long-term strategy to tackle net migration so that it does not affect their ability to hire skilled workers.
"Scrabbling around to find measures to hit a bizarre and unachievable migration target is no way to give British businesses the stable environment they need," said IoD director general.
After this latest set of figures, the UK government's stance will be that the EU needed to do more to help ease the current migrant crisis across Europe.
According to latest statistics released by UK's Office of National Statistics (ONS), net migration to the UK hit an all-time high with 3,30,000 people moving to Britain in the year ending March 2015, compared to 2,36,000 in the same period a year ago.
It found that net migration of EU citizens was 1,83,000, up 53,000 from the previous period, but the increase from countries outside the EU, like India, was lower at 39,000 adding up to a total of 1,96,000 residents recorded in 2014-15.
"These stark figures are deeply disappointing. While these figures underline the challenges we need to meet to reduce net migration, they should also act as a further wake-up call for the EU," said UK immigration minister James Brokenshire.
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In 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron had said in a speech that he was giving a "no ifs, no buts" promise that he would bring immigration numbers down to "levels our country can manage".
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This includes a new immigration bill to introduce a skills levy on all new migrants to be used to train British labour to fill the gaps in shortage occupations.
Advertisement
The government's immigration policy came under attack from UK business chiefs, who called on a new comprehensive review.
Advertisement
"Scrabbling around to find measures to hit a bizarre and unachievable migration target is no way to give British businesses the stable environment they need," said IoD director general.
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