Number of foreign-born residents rises to 10million: One in six people living in England and Wales were born outside the UK, census data reveals, rising by 2.5million since 2011 – with 576% increase in Romanian-born people
- There has been a 2.5million rise in the number of foreign-born people living in England and Wales in 10 years
- The number of Romanians now living in England and Wales has swelled from 80,000 to 539,000 since 2011
- The increase in Romanians followed the lifting of working restrictions across the European Union in 2014
- India remains the most common country of birth outside the UK – with 925,000 making up 1.5% of population
One-in-six people living in England and Wales were born outside the UK with 10million non-UK nationals now calling the two nations home, new census data has shown.
Figures released on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a huge 576 per cent surge in residents who were born in Romania – up from 80,000 in 2011 to 539,000 in 2021.
According to the data, the number of usual residents of England and Wales who were born outside the UK had risen by 2.5 million since 2011.
The large increase in the number of those born in Romania followed the lifting of working restrictions across the European Union in 2014.
India remained the most common country of birth outside the UK – with those 925,000 people making up 1.5 per cent of the population.
The data showed those who listed Ireland as their country of birth declined from 407,000 in 2011 to 325,000 in 2021.
Breaking down the new census results for 2021
- One in six usual residents of England and Wales were born outside the UK, an increase of 2.5 million since 2011, from 7.5 million to 10 million.
- India remained the most common country of birth outside the UK with 920,000 people.
- The number of people who were born in Romania grew by 576 per cent from 80,000 in 2011 to 539,000 in 2021
- 5.9 million usual residents held a non-UK passport
- 545,000 usual residents had an address outside the UK one year before the census
Meanwhile, the countries no longer in the top 10 non-UK countries of birth were the United States and Jamaica.
Commenting on the new figures, census deputy director Jon Wroth-Smith said: ‘The census paints a picture of how the make-up of the population has changed in the past decade. That decade, of course, saw us leave the EU as well as live with the pandemic.
‘While these events may have had an impact on people’s decisions or ability to migrate or travel at a given time, the census tells us about the change over the whole decade – who was living here in March 2021, compared with March 2011.
over the whole decade – who was living here in March 2021, compared with March 2011.
‘We can see Romanians have been a big driver in this change, while there have also been increases due to migration from India, Pakistan and Poland, as well as southern European countries such as Italy.
‘We can also see that migration in the year prior to census was lower in 2021 than it was in 2011.
‘This is likely, in large part, due to the various travel restrictions in place during the coronavirus pandemic.’
London has remained the region with both the largest proportion of people born outside the UK and the largest proportion of people with non-UK passports.
In 2021, more than 4 in 10 (40.6 per cent) usual residents in London were non-UK born, and more than 1 in 5 (23.3 per cent) had a non-UK passport.
In contrast, both Wales (6.9 per cent) and the North East of England (6.8 per cent) had approximately 1 in 14 usual residents born outside the UK.
Similarly, Wales (4.0 per cent) and the North East (3.7 per cent) also had the lowest proportions of the population with non-UK passports.
ONS data also showed the usual resident population in England and Wales grew by more than 3.5 million in the 10 years between censuses, from 56,075,912 in 2011 to 59,597,542 in 2021.
Albanian Channel migrants face being removed ‘within days’ of arrival in the UK under new proposals to clampdown on crisis – as ministers plan modern slavery act reform to stop system being ‘abused’
by David Wilcock, Deputy Political Editorand Rory Tingle, Home Affairs Correspondent For Mailonlineand Harriet Line, Deputy Political Editor For The Daily Mail
Ministers are drawing up plans to deport thousands of Albanian asylum seekers almost immediately after they arrive in a bid to ease the Channel migration crisis.
They want to avoid giving those who fail to be granted asylum having time to launch an appeal against the decision by shipping them back to eastern Europe ‘within days’. Currently the legal process means that arrivals have to be put up in hotels at huge cost to the taxpayer because they can only be held briefly in arrival centres like Manston.
Another proposal being examined is toughening up the Modern Slavery Act, which ministers say has become the ‘biggest loophole’ in the immigration system. Home Office figures show the number of Albanian migrants claiming to be victims of modern slavery is set to double this year to 5,000.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told the Telegraph that Albanians were ‘abusing’ the act and delaying deportation attempts. By paying people-smuggling gangs to get them to the UK, up to two per cent of all Albanian men have either attempted a Channel crossing or are thinking of doing so.
So far this year, more than 12,000 Albanians have illegally crossed the Channel into Britain – 10,000 of whom were single, adult men.
However, experts last night warned that attempts to remove arrivals before the legal process was complete would break international law. One told the Times: ‘How can you exercise your appeal rights if you’re not in the UK? It would be extrajudicial, and contravene rights under the Refugee Convention.’
There will also be questions over the ability of the system to be sped up. Taxpayers are currently paying nearly £7million a day to house tens of thousands of asylum seekers in hotels after the Home Office managed to process just four per cent of asylum claims from people who crossed the Channel last year.
As Home Secretary Suella Braverman came under increasing pressure to tackle the crisis, it emerged:
- French police have been ordered not to stop boats in the water departing for UK due to fears of legal action;
- Robert Jenrick insisted the Manston processing centre if ‘fit for purpose’ despite a damning inspection;
- Sir Keir Starmer sought to change the law so Channel migrants with a ‘fear of return’ could qualify for asylum;
- 10,000 more migrants could cross in next two months, bringing total this year to 50,000, Mr Jenrick warned;
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent on October 27
A group of people thought to be migrants at Dover on October 13
‘Don’t scupper the migrant dinghies’: French police are ordered not to halt boats bound for UK amid fears of legal action
Tom Kelly, Investigations Editor for the Daily Mail
French police have been ordered not to stop migrant boats in the water departing for Britain because of fears of facing legal action.
The diktat has left ‘overwhelmed’ officers powerless to intervene as people smuggling gangs ruthlessly exploit the system to send thousands more migrants on perilous cross Channel crossings.
The policy was introduced after a campaign group filed a complaint accusing police of endangering human life after officers punctured an overloaded small boat just a few yards from the shore to prevent it leaving.
A subsequent notice from France’s Departmental Board of the National Police issued on August 26 banned officers from targeting boats already in the water. Only those on the beach or on the road could be intercepted.
People smugglers swiftly responded, setting up almost untouchable ‘taxi boat’ services.
Instead of taking dinghies to the beach by road and inflating them on the sand, as before, gangs now pilot boats along the coast and pick up groups of migrants waiting on the shore at pre-arranged spots.
The Government is desperate to will crack down on young Albanian men – some with ‘criminal intent’ – crossing the Channel to come to the UK.
Robert Jenrick said yesterday the Government would work on a ‘fast-track’ system to speed up the removal of migrants with no right to stay in Britain.
He said an agreement signed last year had already led to 1,000 Albanians being returned, but insisted he wanted to see ‘far more’ sent back in the coming months.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said that the intense pressure at the Manston migrant processing centre will not be solved quickly.
He told Sky News that work was ongoing to get migrants from the site quicker but said ‘it is reasonable to say it is not going to happen overnight’.
‘There are no simple solutions here.
‘They’re very difficult. The Government is putting the steps in place to procure more accommodation.’
Former home secretary Priti Patel signed an agreement last July which strengthened existing arrangements to remove Albanian nationals who have no right to be in the UK, including failed asylum seekers.
The Home Office said then that Albanian nationals made up the largest number of foreign national offenders in UK prisons totalling 16 per cent of the foreign national offenders population.
Mr Jenrick yesterday described many of those arriving in Britain from Albania as ‘young males who are fit, healthy, prosperous enough to pay the criminal gangs to get here’.
The minister said Albania was a ‘demonstrably safe country’ – and people coming to the UK from there have travelled via other safe countries.
‘We should not be seeing these individuals coming to the UK,’ he said.
‘You should claim asylum in the first safe country, and a very large proportion of Albanians coming to the UK are coming as economic migrants – some intent on criminality.’
People thought to be migrants wait to be processed at the Border Force compound in Dover
TikTok videos show dozens of Albanian migrants making the crossing, with this group unfurling the nation’s flag on the boat
Number of migrants crossing could hit 50,000 this year
Another 10,000 migrants could cross the Channel over the next two months, bringing the total who arrive in Britain this year to 50,000, the Immigration Minister warned yesterday.
Robert Jenrick said the Government would look at ‘more radical options’ to tackle the crisis, but admitted the challenge is ‘very significant’. And he put up a partial defence of Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s description of the Channel crossings as an ‘invasion’ on the South Coast.
‘Fifty thousand people, and the number could well be significantly higher over the course of this year, is a major challenge for this country,’ he told Sky News. ‘It is leading to the infrastructure that we have in terms of reception centres, like Manston, in terms of hotel accommodation, and asylum and social housing, essentially being overwhelmed.
‘Invasion is a way of describing the sheer scale of the challenge. That’s what Suella Braverman was trying to express. She was also speaking, I think, and this is an important point, for those people who live on the south coast, who day in, day out are seeing migrant boats landing on their beaches.’
Mr Jenrick, who is planning to visit Albania shortly, said the Government would work on a quicker system to remove Albanians with no right to be in the UK.
He said: ‘We want to find a way to have a fast-track so that Albanians who are coming here – most of whom are young males who are fit, healthy, prosperous enough to pay the criminal gangs to get here – are assessed swiftly, have their claims dismissed if that’s the right answer, and then are removed from the country.’
Meanwhile, the leader of a council which has taken High Court action against the Home Office to prevent it hosting asylum seekers in specific hotels has accused the department of showing a ‘total lack of consultation and engagement’ with local authorities.
Sheila Oxtoby, chief executive of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘First of all, I’d like to say that we have a long history of welcoming refugees and economic migrants to our town and to our borough.
‘We have always, right from the beginning, offered to work with the Home Office to find the most suitable accommodation and the best solution for both the asylum seekers and the existing community – but that has largely fallen on deaf ears and our offer has not been taken up.
‘I think you used the word ‘imposed’ and that’s how we feel that two properties running as successful hotels in a prime tourism area have been selected to accommodate asylum seekers.
‘That’s what we object to – the method and process upon how they have been selected and the total lack of consultation and engagement with us as the local council.’
Ms Oxtoby added there were limits to the number of refugees that her council would take and urged the Government to recognise immigration is a ‘national issue’.
Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, said yesterday the Government would work on a ‘fast-track’ system to speed up the removal of migrants with no right to stay in Britain.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said that the intense pressure at the Manston migrant processing centre will not be solved quickly.
Ministers want to avoid giving those who fail to be granted asylum having time to launch an appeal against the decision by shipping them back to eastern Europe ‘within days’.
Manston ‘is like a prison camp’: Migrant says people at Kent
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