Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants rise three-fold as Cameron targets evaporate

Some 24,000 citizens of Romania and Bulgaria arrived in the year to September 2013, nearly three times the 9,000 who arrived in the previous year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Around 70% came to work, while 30% came to study.

Meanwhile, overall net migration - the difference between migrants leaving and arriving in the UK - soared to 212,000 in the period from 154,000 the previous year, moving further away from Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May’s hopes to bring the figure down to below 100,000 by the 2015 general election.

Some 532,000 people immigrated to the UK in the year ending September, up from the 497,000 people who arrived during the previous year, while 320,000 emigrants left the country, down from the 343,000 the previous year.

A surge in European Union citizens arriving in the UK has driven the increase, rising to 209,000 from 149,000 the previous year, the ONS said.

Some 65,000 citizens of so-called EU15 countries, that is pre-2004 members of the union, arrived to work in the UK in the period, an increase of 23,000 when compared to the previous year.

However, immigration of non-EU citizens saw a statistically significant decrease to 244,000 in the period, down from 269,000 the previous year.

Statisticians said this was due to fewer New Commonwealth citizens - such as those from India - migrating to the UK for formal study.

The drop in non-EU citizens is likely to fuel fears that Britain is being perceived as “closed for business” by foreign students who are seen by many as valuable to the British economy.

Romanian and Bulgarian citizens arriving for work-related reasons in the same period stood at 17,000, of which 11,000 reported having a definite job, the ONS said, up from 2,000 the previous year.

The two eastern European countries joined the EU on January 1 2007.

Since then, migrants from Bulgaria and Romania coming to the UK were subject to transitional employment restrictions, which placed limits on the kind of employment they could undertake - such as self-employed status or skilled work.

However, these restrictions ended on January 1 this year, giving unfettered access to the UK labour market.

Against a backdrop of growing concerns of an influx of Romanians and Bulgarians to the UK, and a surge in popularity for the UK Independence Party, the Prime Minister last year unveiled a series of tough measures designed to clamp down on abuse of free movement between EU member states.

Immigration and security minister James Brokenshire, who recently took on the role after Mark Harper MP stepped down amid controversy surrounding the immigration status of his cleaner, said: “Uncontrolled, mass immigration makes it difficult to maintain social cohesion, puts pressure on our public services and forces down wages for people on low incomes.

“Our reforms have cut non-EU migration to its lowest level since 1998 and there are now 82,000 fewer people arriving annually from outside the EU than when this government came to power.

“And overall figures are also well down from when we first came to government in 2010 - with nearly 70,000 fewer migrants coming to the UK.

“Numbers are down across the board in areas where we can control immigration, but arrivals from the EU have doubled in the last year.

“The Government is ensuring that our controls on accessing benefits and services, including the NHS and social housing, are among the tightest in Europe.

“We cannot impose formal immigration controls on EU migrants, so we are focusing on cutting out the abuse of free movement between EU member states and seeking to address the factors that drive European immigration to Britain.

“We are building an immigration system that is fair to British citizens and legitimate migrants, that is tough on those who abuse the system or flout the law, and that ensures people come to the UK for the right reasons - to work hard and contribute to our economy and society.”

Experts at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said the figures suggest it is “extremely unlikely” the Government will now hit its migration target.

Scott Blinder, director at the Migration Observatory, said: “This is clearly challenging news for the Government.

“The key changes in this report are to EU migration - an area over which immigration policy has less direct influence.

“This highlights the fact that the net migration target is not something that can be delivered purely through policy, but relies on other trends as well.”

Mark Hilton, head of immigration policy at business membership organisation London First, said this is “game over” for the Government’s migration target.

“What we need to be wary of is the Government trying to control future figures by further limiting the only number it has power over - non-EU migrants,” he said.

“In the past this has hit both highly-skilled immigrants that we need, as well as foreign students, who are a huge economic asset - higher education is our eighth biggest export industry, valued at £8 billion.”

Sir Andrew Green, chairman and founder of campaigner Migration Watch UK, which has predicted the arrival of 50,000 Romanians and Bulgarians each year for the next five years, said: “The Government is succeeding in bringing down non-EU migration but they have been blown off course by a sharp increase of 66,000 migrants from the EU.

“The figures also show that net migration from Romania and Bulgaria was about 20,000 in the year to last September, even before the restrictions were lifted.

“We believe this confirms our estimate of 50,000 a year over the next five years.”

Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: “These latest figures show just how out of control the Government is when it comes to controlling immigration in and out of the UK.

“It is utterly pointless setting immigration targets when you can’t even decide who comes into this country.

“The Government’s release of figures is merely for spin purposes to falsely reassure a voting public increasingly concerned with levels of migration into this country.

“But until we end the open door immigration policy with the EU and take back full control over our borders, nothing can really be done. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”

Tim Finch, associate director for migration at centre-left think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research, said: “The Government is pursuing a ‘one club’ immigration policy - to reduce the overall number of immigrants at all costs.

“These latest official figures show how, in an era of high international mobility and inter-connectedness, this is very difficult to achieve.

“Moreover, it makes little sense to try to drive down immigration across the board because some forms of migration are clearly beneficial to the UK economy, like foreign students and high skilled workers.

“So it is time to move away from an obsession with net migration and to take a more differentiated and sophisticated approach to managing migration and its impacts. Above all, the Government should focus on working harder to make sure that migrants integrate into the UK.”