Migration Numbers Fall by One Third

New reports from the Office for National Statistics shows that net migration, or the number of people who come to live in Britain minus the number of people who move abroad, has fell by more than a third to 163,000 last year. This is the lowest level since Poland joined the European Union.

The Office for National Statistics went on to say that the fall from 233,000 seen in 2007 was mainly driven by a big rise in emigration to a 17 year high. 427,000 people left Britain to live abroad, which was up from 341,000 the previous year. This increase was largely due to a number of Poles choosing to return back home.

Emigration reached 590,000, with the largest single group being made up of 85,000 British citizens returning to live in the UK. This total is being compared to the 574,000 that was seen in 2007 and the 596,000 seen in 2006.

The asylum figures showed a further fall in numbers of fresh claims for refugee status between July and September of this year. The number of claims was at 5,055, which is actually a decline of 24 percent when compared to the same period of 2008. Refugee welfare groups said that the fall in asylum numbers was not necessarily a matter of celebration, but did raise fears that the tightening up of Britain's borders was denying sanctuary to people that are in need of it.

The report showed that the top three countries that asylum seekers came from were Afghanistan, Iran, and Zimbabwe. Almost 7,110 people were held in emigration detention between July and September of this year, and more then half of them were asylum seekers.