264,000 come to live in the UK "by back door"

Research by Oxford University's Migration Observatory has shown concerns regarding non-EU migrants coming to live in the UK “by the back door”. It is said that the number of immigrants outside of Europe who come to line in the UK after receiving EU citizenship elsewhere has tripled in the last 10 years.

Figures show that there are currently 263,000 foreigners in Britain who were born outside Europe and received “free movement” rights by living in another European country before moving to the UK.

It is said that more than a fifth of the total (54,000 migrants) came to the UK after having lived in Portugal first. The second largest group were 36,000 people via Italy, 33,000 from France, 30,000 from Spain, 21,000 from Ireland and 19,000 from the Netherlands.

The largest group detailed in the research came from India, with 24,000 arrivals, 15,000 from South Africa, 14,000 from North America, 13,000 from Brazil and 11,000 from Sri Lanka.