Migration numbers touches off political firestorm

Immigration has climbed up the British political agenda this summer as migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia attempt to reach Europe in unprecedented numbers.

A net 330,000 people moved to Britain in the year to March 2015, up 40 percent on the same period a year ago, official data released Thursday said. Some 183,000 came from within the EU, an increase of 53,000 over last year.

Government ministers have called the numbers "disappointing" as Prime Minister David Cameron had vowed to reduce the numbers to less than 100,000 by May of this year.

Curbing migrants' access to public benefits in order to deter them from immigrating is a key objective for the Conservative prime minister as he renegotiates the country's relationship with the EU ahead of a planned referendum over continued membership planned by the end of 2017.

Most arrive to work or study

Although British media attention is often focused on desperate refugees risking their lives to arrive from the French port of Calais, figures show that the vast majority of immigrants come to study or work, rather than seek asylum or enroll in public welfare programs.

Yet anti-EU politicians seized on the figures saying Britain should increase restrictions to foreign nationals, even from EU member states currently allowed to live and work without a visa.

Nigel Farage, a leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party, said the figures "reflect borderless Britain and total impotence of the British government. "If open borders are not part of the Cameron renegotiation then what's the point of it?" he said.

Britain received 25,771 asylum applications in the 12-month period, an increase of 10 percent, with the largest number of applications coming from nationals of Eritrea (3,568), Pakistan (2,302) and Syria (2,204).

But despite the refugee crisis stemming from the war-torn Middle East and impoverished North Africa, the figure remains low relative to the peak number of applications -- 84,132 -- in 2002.

Government target 'bizarre and unachievable'

And business leaders say politicians aiming to limit immigration will be counterproductive to growing the nation of 64 million's economy.

"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," Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors said. "Combined with ministers' increasingly strong rhetoric on immigration, the UK's reputation as an open, competitive economy is under threat."

jar/jil (Reuters, AP, AFP)