UK warnings sent to 100 by mistake

Net migration to Britain falls

LONDON, Aug 24, (Agencies): Britain’s interior ministry sent deportation warnings to around 100 EU citizens by mistake, it emerged on Wednesday, an incident that campaigners said would increase fears among Europeans living in Britain.

Eva Johanna Holmberg, a Finnish historian at Queen Mary University of London specialising in the study of early modern Britain, was one of the recipients.

Holmberg said she received the Home Office letter last week, telling her that if she did not leave the country within a month then the ministry would have to give “directions for removal”.

The letter said Holmberg, who is married to a Briton and has lived in Britain for years, was now “a person liable to be detained under the Immigration Act”.

“I could not believe my eyes,” Holmberg told the BBC on Wednesday, saying that she had contacted a lawyer to ask if she could appeal against deportation.

But after her case prompted a furore, the Home Office was forced to apologise for the mistake on Wednesday.

“We have spoken to Ms Holmberg to apologise for this and assure her that she can remain in the UK,” it said in a statement. A spokesman said around 100 similar letters were sent.

“We are contacting everyone who received this letter to clarify that they can disregard it,” he said.

“We are absolutely clear that the rights of EU nationals living in the UK remain unchanged”.

Britain is in negotiations with the European Union over the future status of European nationals living in Britain and Britons in the EU after Brexit.

Meanwhile, net migration to Britain has fallen to a three-year low as a growing number of European Union nationals left the country following last year’s Brexit referendum, according to official figures released Thursday.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics provide evidence that the uncertainty and economic jitters caused

British teens score top marks:

The teenage sister of a British man killed in a militant attack in Manchester was on Thursday awarded top marks in national exams she sat just in the days after learning her brother had died.

Nik Hett’s brother Martyn was among by Britain’s vote to quit the EU are having an impact on immigration.

The statistics office said net migration — the difference between arrivals and departures — was 246,000 in the year to March 31, a fall of 81,000 on a year earlier. More than half the change was due to a decline of 51,000 in net migration from the EU.

A total of 122,000 EU citizens left Britain in the year to March, up 31,000 from the year before and the highest outflow in nearly a decade.

There was a particularly sharp rise in departures from citizens of the “EU 8” — eastern European nations that joined the bloc in 2004. Hundreds of thousands of Poles, Lithuanians and other eastern Europeans moved to Britain to work after 2004.

Right

EU citizens have the right to live and work in any member state, and more than 3 million nationals of other EU countries live in Britain.

Britain commissioned a report on Thursday on the economic impact of foreign students, part of an increasingly heated debate over whether they should be included in the government’s target of reducing migration to the tens of thousands.

Prime Minister Theresa May has been under pressure to drop international students from Britain’s immigration figures, which have remained stubbornly high despite her pledge as interior minister seven years ago to reduce them to under 100,000 a year.

High rates of immigration into Britain were a major reason for the vote to leave the European Union last year. But many officials argue that foreign students contribute to the economy.

“There is no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK to study, and the fact that we remain the second most popular global destination for those seeking higher education is something to be proud of,” interior minister Amber Rudd said in a statement.

the 22 people killed in May when a suicide bomber blew himself up as crowds streamed out of the Manchester Arena following a pop concert by US singer Ariana Grande.

Another teenager, 16-year-old Ines Alves, also achieved an A grade in a paper

“We understand how important students from around the world are to our higher education sector, which is a key export for our country, and that’s why we want to have a robust and independent evidence base of their value and the impact they have.”

Immigration has long been a sensitive topic in Britain. The expansion of the European Union to take in some eastern European countries saw rates jump, which critics said put pressure on public services such as hospitals.

But others argue that immigration helps the economy and a provides a much-needed workforce. By including students in the immigration figures, they say, Britain is failing to acknowledge the contribution they make or that most leave after finishing their studies.

International students make up around a quarter of total immigration, according to official figures. Data released on Thursday showed that net migration to Britain in the year to March 2017 fell by 81,000 to 246,000 people. More than half of those who left were EU citizens.

In a separate report on “What’s happening with international student migration?”, the Office for National Statistics said: “There is no evidence of a major issue of non-EU students overstaying their entitlement to stay.”

Of the 1.34 million nationals from outside the European Economic Area who held visas that expired in 2016/17, 96.3 percent departed before the visa expired, the ONS said in another report.

Another 0.4 percent departed after their visa had expired. Just 3.3 percent were not initially identified as having departed after their leave expired.

“We have always been clear that our commitment to reducing net migration to sustainable levels does not detract from our determination to attract international students from around the world,” Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said.

“Since 2010 we have clamped down on abuse, while increasing the number of genuine students that come to the UK from around the world.” she sat just hours after escaping a deadly fire in a London tower block.

The pair were among thousands of teenagers across the country to open the results on Thursday from their GCSEs — national exams taken by most British teenagers in the academic year when they turn 16.

“Floored” by his younger sister’s bravery, Nik’s other brother Dan Hett took to Twitter to applaud her for scoring some of the highest marks available despite the circumstances.

“Under the most horrific conditions, after going through (and continuing to go through) it all, she didn’t skip a beat,” he wrote. “My kid sister is the toughest person I have ever met.”

He added that Nik’s school had told her she did not need to sit her GSCEs and that provisional grades from tests taken previously could be used as her final results.

“Nik said: nope! And took the lot,” he continued. “Sleeves rolled up, get it done.”

“She got her results today. Eleven A* grades. I have never been more proud or amazed by anyone.”

In London, Alves scored an A in chemistry - an exam she sat at 0900 (0800 GMT) on June 14, just hours after the Grenfell Tower building caught fire, killing around 80 people and destroying her family home.

She also scored a grade 9 in maths, putting her in the top 3 percent of the country.

A and A* grades are equivalent to a 7, 8 or 9 in the exams, with 9 being the highest mark achievable under a new grading system being introduced this year. (RTRS)