Net migration to the UK reached a record 606,000 in 2022, official figures showed on Thursday, increasing pressure on the government, which has vowed to cut its reliance on foreign labour.
London, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 25th May, 2023 ) :Net migration to the UK reached a record 606,000 in 2022, official figures showed on Thursday, increasing pressure on the government, which has vowed to cut job dependency foreign .
Responding to the figures, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described legal immigration levels as “very high”.
“It’s that simple and I want to knock them down,” he told ITV in an interview.
Measures announced earlier this week to tighten the number of international students allowed to bring their families with them would have a significant impact, he added.
Immigration has long been a key political issue in the United Kingdom and was one of the main battlegrounds of the Brexit referendum in 2016, which saw the country leave the European Union.
In 2021, net migration – the difference between the number of people leaving the UK and those arriving – was 488,000.
Jay Lindop, director of the center for international migration at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said world events such as the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine played a role in the increase.
China’s crackdown on civil rights in Hong Kong, which led to the easing of UK entry rules for overseas British passport holders, also had an impact.
“A series of unprecedented world events throughout 2022 and the lifting of restrictions following the coronavirus pandemic led to record levels of international immigration to the UK,” Lindop said.