UK Sees a Drop in Eastern European Migration
23/05/2008 by Charlotte Norman
Figures released by the UK Border Agency show that applications by Eastern Europeans to work in the country have dramatically fallen, making them the lowest since 2005.
Applications from citizens of the eight countries which subsequently joined the EU in 2004 have fallen by 13%. Measured between January and March the numbers showed that 45,000 applications were made in comparison to 52,000 the previous year.
As most of these countries operate under the Shengen agreement which enables open borders between the majority, the Border Agency's figures relate specifically to those people whom are applying to work in the United Kingdom.
In particularly it seems that the levels are dropping specifically for the numbers of Bulgarians and Romanians applying to work. The report showed that there were only 8,205 applications between January and March this year, a fall from 10,420 in the same period last year.
Bryan Palmer an Immigration Worker at global mobility specialists, www.globalvisas.com says that "numbers for UK immigration are on the whole on the rise, obviously this will vary from year to year between specific nationalities, however I don't think it is a cause for concern. The UK is competing globally against countries all wanting skilled migrants to come and work."
The UK Border Agency also announced that the number of asylum applications, also fell by 5% from 8,140 to 7,705, whilst elsewhere in Europe it grew by 13%.
These figures are great news for the UK, proving that tighter border controls are working. The figures show that 13,740 illegal immigrants, excluding asylum seekers, were removed from the country during the assessed period increasing 20%. Recent months have seen the UK government instill sweeping changes to the immigration process, in the hope of allowing only the workers which Britain needs.
News of these positive figures has now prompted the Home Office to head new targets. With one of the key initiative plans for ahead in 2008 being to remove the growing number of foreign national prisoners
Speaking out at the announcement Liam Byrne, the Border and Immigration Minister said "Today's figures show our shake-up of border security is delivering results with asylum applications falling yet again…People in Britain welcome legal migrants who work hard and play by the rules. But we will not tolerate law breakers, which is why we will prioritise their expulsion from Britain. Our deportation numbers are going up and they need to carry on rising."
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