Canada Global (Web News) According to official data released on Thursday, net migration in the UK reached a record high of 606,000 in 2022, placing additional pressure on the government to fulfil its commitment to reduce reliance on foreign labour. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak referred to the numbers as being “too high” in response to them. He told ITV in an interview, “I want to bring them down. It’s as simple as that.”
He noted that the restrictions put in place earlier this week on the amount of overseas students who are permitted to bring their families along would have a big effect.
In the UK, immigration has always been a contentious political subject, and in 2016, when the country voted to leave the EU, it was one of the prominent debate topics. Net migration in 2021 was 488,000, which is the difference between the number of persons leaving the UK and those coming in.
The end of the Covid-19 outbreak and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Jay Lindop, director of the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) centre for international migration, both contributed to the rise.
The restriction of civil rights in Hong Kong by China has an effect on admission policies for those with British overseas passports.
According to Lindop, “a series of unprecedented global events throughout 2022 and the relaxation of regulations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic led to record levels of immigration from abroad to the UK.”
