Net migration now stands at 500,000 in a single year
RISHI Sunak could clamp down on foreign students after shock figures showed that net migration has passed 500,000 a year for the first time.
The Government is considering limiting the number of visas issued by cracking down on people from overseas who apply to ‘low-quality’ degree courses.
Foreign students could also be prevented from bringing their families with them.
The unexpectedly large increase in net migration revealed yesterday was driven by a surge in the number of people coming from outside the EU to work, study and live in Britain.
Official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed net migration – the
‘It is vital we restore public confidence’
difference between the number of immigrants arriving and those emigrating – rocketed by 330,000 to 504,000 in the year to June.
The new total smashed the previous record of 332,000 set in 2015.
In the 12-month period, 1,064,000 foreign nationals came to live long-term in the UK – a rise of 435,000 year-on-year. Non-EU nationals made up two-thirds of the total, or 704,000, up 379,000 year-on-year.
By contrast, 560,000 people are estimated to have emigrated from the UK in the same period.
The ONS said the rapid rise was due to a series of ‘unprecedented world events’, including the war in Ukraine and the end of lockdown travel restrictions.
It added that it was ‘too early to tell’ whether the patterns would continue. Asked when the Government would re-take control of the country’s borders, the PM’s spokesman acknowledged the system was ‘broken’.
‘The Prime Minister is fully committed to bringing overall numbers down,’ he said. Although Mr Sunak wants net migration to ‘reduce’, he has not ‘put a specific timeframe on that’, the spokesman added.
‘We are considering all options to make sure the immigration system is delivering and that does include looking at the issue of students’ dependants and lowquality degrees.’
The figures came weeks after Home Secretary Suella Braverman told the Tory Party conference her ‘ultimate aspiration’ was to cut net migration levels to ‘tens of thousands’.
The latest statistics cover a period when three new humanitarian routes were created. During the year, Britain helped 22,000 Afghans escape the Taliban, and handed visas to more than 144,000 people from Hong Kong threatened by Beijing’s crackdown and to more than 189,000 Ukrainians fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war.
But Alp Mehmet of Migration-Watch UK, which campaigns for tougher border controls, said: ‘The hideously loose post-Brexit immigration system, the ease with which people can make their way to the UK and stay, and the appalling failure to remove those with no right to be here, have all contributed to this astonishing net migration figure.’ Indian students were the largest nationality overall, with just under 128,000 visas, up 273 per cent on 2019.
The largest increase in study visas was for Nigerians, up 650 per cent on pre-pandemic levels to just under 51,000.
Last night, Mrs Braverman said: ‘My priority remains tackling the rise in dangerous and illegal crossings and stopping the abuse of our system. It is vital we restore public confidence and take back control of our borders.’