Migration

The United Kingdom has experienced successive waves of migration. The Great Famine in Ireland resulted in perhaps a million people migrating to the UK.^[329] Over 120,000 Polish veterans settled in Britain after World War II, unable to return home.^[330] After World War II, there was significant immigration from the colonies and newly independent former colonies, partly as a legacy of empire and partly driven by labour shortages. Many of these migrants came from the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent.^[331] The British Asian population has increased from 2.2 million in 2001 to over 4.2 million in 2011.^[332]

One of the more recent trends in migration has been the arrival of workers from the new EU member states in Eastern Europe. In 2010, there were 7.0 million foreign-born residents in the UK, corresponding to 11.3% of the total population. Of these, 4.76 million (7.7%) were born outside the EU and 2.24 million (3.6%) were born in another EU Member State.^[333] The proportion of foreign-born people in the UK remains slightly below that of many other European countries.^[334] However, immigration is now contributing to a rising population^[335] with arrivals and UK-born children of migrants accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. Analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that a net total of 2.3 million migrants moved to the UK in the 15 years from 1991 to 2006.^[336][337] In 2008 it was predicted that migration would add 7 million to the UK population by 2031,^[338] though these figures are disputed.^[339] The ONS reported that net migration rose from 2009 to 2010 by 21 per cent to 239,000.^[340] In 2011 the net increase was 251,000: immigration was 589,000, while the number of people emigrating (for more than 12 months) was 338,000.^[341][342]

195,046 foreign nationals became British citizens in 2010,^[343] compared to 54,902 in 1999.^[343][344] A record 241,192 people were granted permanent settlement rights in 2010, of whom 51 per cent were from Asia and 27 per cent from Africa.^[345] 25.5 per cent of babies born in England and Wales in 2011 were born to mothers born outside the UK, according to official statistics released in 2012.^[346]

Citizens of the European Union, including those of the UK, have the right to live and work in any EU member state.^[347] The UK applied temporary restrictions to citizens of Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in January 2007.^[348] Research conducted by the Migration Policy Institute for the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests that, between May 2004 and September 2009, 1.5 million workers migrated from the new EU member states to the UK, two-thirds of them Polish, but that many subsequently returned home, resulting in a net increase in the number of nationals of the new member states in the UK of some 700,000 over that period.^[349][350] The late-2000s recession in the UK reduced the economic incentive for Poles to migrate to the UK,^[351] the migration becoming temporary and circular.^[352] In 2009, for the first time since enlargement, more nationals of the eight central and eastern European states that had joined the EU in 2004 left the UK than arrived.^[353] In 2011, citizens of the new EU member states made up 13% of the immigrants entering the country.^[341]

The UK government has introduced a points-based immigration system for immigration from outside the European Economic Area to replace former schemes, including the Scottish Government's Fresh Talent Initiative.^[354] In June 2010 the UK government introduced a temporary limit of 24,000 on immigration from outside the EU, aiming to discourage applications before a permanent cap was imposed in April 2011.^[355] The cap has caused tension within the coalition: business secretary Vince Cable has argued that it is harming British businesses.^[356]

Emigration was an important feature of British society in the 19th century. Between 1815 and 1930 around 11.4 million people emigrated from Britain and 7.3 million from Ireland. Estimates show that by the end of the 20th century some 300 million people of British and Irish descent were permanently settled around the globe.^[357] Today, at least 5.5 million UK-born people live abroad,^{[358][359][360]} mainly in Australia, Spain, the United States and Canada.^[358][361]