Immigration in UK: What is the real picture?

Immigration in UK: What is the real picture?

The last few weeks we have heard that immigration in UK is raising because of the freedom of movement within EU. UNISON formally supports the stay in campaign but the branch would like to remain neutral. However there are plenty of myths around immigration and a lot of things to blame but globalization and the way the world is structured in economic terms. So is over half of the immigration coming from EU member states? Below you will find statistics from the national statistics office and you can directly search on www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_407038

The total non UK population is now 14%. In the year ending (YE) September 2015,Net long-term international migration = 323,000 (up

Immigration(coming in) = 617,000

Emigration (moving out from UK) = 294,000

Net migration of EU citizens was estimated to be 172,000.

Non-EU net migration 191,000

Of the 290,000 people who immigrated for work in YE September 2015, 59% (170,000) had a definite job to go to. Of all EU citizens who came to the UK in YE September 2015, 60% arrived with a definite job to go to. (That means that the majority of people from EU come to live in UK mainly because their employer asks them to do so or because employers have recruited outside the country in order to fill gaps and shortages such as doctors for the NHS, scientists for pharmaceuticals and other hi-tech companies).

In 2015, visas granted ( that means non EU applicants) for skilled work rose +4%. There were 38,878 asylum applications (including dependants) in 2015, an increase of 20% compared with the previous year (32,344). The largest number of applications for asylum, including dependants, came from nationals of Eritrea followed by Iran, Pakistan, Sudan and Syria. Grant rates vary between nationalities; for example, 86% of the total initial decisions made for those giving Syrian as their nationality were grants of asylum or another form of protection, compared with 20% for Pakistani nationals. (Yet Pakistani visas were more than Syrian).

Figure 6: Entry clearance visas granted (excluding visitor and transit visas) to the UK, top 10 nationalities, 2015

The 2011 Census showed that 13% foreign-born residents classified themselves as White British. The largest group who identified as White British were German born (57%, 155,000) and over half (56%) of them arrived before 1981. One likely reason is due to British military personnel being stationed in Germany. The next largest group identifying as White British were from South Africa (85,000).

The table below is from the national statistics website and shows that the EU immigrants who can freely come into the country are far less that immigrants from outside EU who are required to follow long processes to obtain permit to immigrate in the UK.

Having the official statics about immigration you can make up your mind about EU membership in relation to immigration.