Why is the number of immigrants to the UK increasing at a record rate?

The number of immigrants to the UK has increased to a record high, while the number has decreased for Germany. This is a paradox because for many years Germany has had the largest wave of immigrants in Europe.

Migrants were rescued by rescuers and brought to the southeastern coast of England, after crossing the English Channel. Photo: AFP

Despite British Chancellor Rishi Sunak's promise to reduce immigration, the number of people moving to the UK has continued to rise over time. According to figures from the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), net migration to the UK hit a record 745,000 in 2023, higher than previously predicted.

According to the ONS, most of those arriving in the UK this year were non-EU nationals, with a total of 968,000, followed by 129,000 EU nationals and 84,000 Britons. Work was the biggest reason for non-EU migration to the UK, with a net figure of 278,000, followed by a net figure of 263,000 for study. The recent number of work visas to the UK has been mainly granted to people working in the health and care sector. The two main reasons for the record increase in migration to the UK are high incomes and access to an attractive welfare system.

In fact, legal migration has skyrocketed since Britain formally left the European Union in January 2020. In 2021, net migration totaled 488,000. Some Conservative Party supporters have called on Mr Sunak to “act now” to cut net migration, which has been rising year after year.

The number of immigrants to the UK has continuously increased, which has created favorable conditions for a diverse labor force for the Land of Fog. However, the rapid increase in immigrants to the UK has led to unpredictable consequences such as: natives losing their jobs, divisions in British society, the British budget being under a lot of pressure and social security also having to bear more burdens because of immigrants...

Faced with this situation, the UK has tightened the terms of the special status agreement reached with the European Union (EU) in February 2016, including limiting the rights of EU citizens to the UK, in order to help reduce the number of migrants in this country. However, these solutions seem to be ineffective.

Immigration, a long-standing political issue in Britain, is set to become a key issue in next year's general election, which the opposition Labour Party is currently favourite to win.

Meanwhile, in Germany, the country that is considered to receive the most migrants in the EU, the opposite is true, the number of immigrants has decreased rapidly. German police recorded a 40% decrease in the number of people entering the country illegally through the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since Germany introduced new controls last month.

There are now fewer than 300 illegal border crossings into Germany each day, compared with around 700 a day in the 30 days before the new controls were introduced.

However, police also said the drop in illegal entry into Germany was partly due to Serbia's new border controls on its border with Hungary, as many illegal border crossers chose this route into the EU to reach Germany.

Nearly 234,000 people applied for asylum in Germany for the first time between January and September, up 73% from the same period last year. Many German cities say they have reached the limit of their resources for housing, caring for and integrating refugees, especially as the country is now hosting more than a million refugees from Ukraine since Russia launched a special military operation in February 2022.

Migration into Europe is already a difficult problem for many countries on the continent, but the problem is made even more difficult by the lack of synchronization in the EU's allocation of migrant quotas. This problem will become more difficult when a common voice is not found.

HN synthesis

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