Number of immigrants living in UK soars by 20 percent

London, Aug 27 (ANI): The number of immigrants staying in Britain is reported to have increased by twenty percent, with almost one-fourth of new babies being born to mothers from outside the country.

The figures revealed by the Government's Office for National Statistics on Thursday, said net migration numbers rose to 196,000 in 2009, compared with 163,000 in the previous 12 months witnessing a rise of twenty percent.

The figures announced by the Government's Office for National Statistics also came up with the fact that while four percent fewer people arrived in UK last year, the number of those leaving dropped by thirteen percent.

"The previous Government said that immigration numbers were going down, but this clearly wasn't the case. Overall, the figures very clearly show that the number of immigrants is in fact rising. The numbers speak for themselves. We are obviously an attractive destination and people are going to want to come here.We need to make sure it happens in an orderly and reasonable fashion," the Daily Star quoted Migration Watch UK Spokesman Alp Mehmet as saying.

Moreover, the figures revealed by the Home Office for the second quarter of 2010 said the number of applications to the UK for asylum was twenty-nine percent down on the same quarter in 2009.

"The figures were proof that the Coalition Government had inherited a difficult situation. What these figures tell me is that we also need to look at all the other routes by which people come into this country," said Immigration Minister Damian Green. (ANI)