MORE than a million foreigners have been given the right to settle in Britain since Labour came to power, after a sudden surge in numbers last year, according to figures published yesterday.

Foreign settlement is three times the rate it was when Tony Blair entered Downing Street, and the number soared by almost 30 per cent last year.

The huge growth in settlement reflects the increasing migrant flow over the past decade, as foreigners can only apply to settle after being in the country for five years.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch, said: “These are very large figures. They are the inevitable consequence of the Government deliberately stimulating immigration over the past nine years. There are people coming through the system in everincreasing numbers. That will continue as people who have been here five years can apply for settlement followed by citizenship.”

Officials at the Home Office predicted that yesterday’s figures would lead eventually to a jump in the number seeking and being granted citizenship. A migrant who is allowed to settle can apply for a British passport a year later.

The number of migrants given settlement last year increased by 40,000 to a record figure of 179,120, compared with 58,700 in 1997. The figures do not include arrivals from the EU.

More than 70 per cent of those given settlement rights were from Africa, Asia and the Indian sub-continent, with a further 20 per cent from North and South America and European states outside the European Economic Area.

Sudden increases of people being granted settlement were recorded from a number of areas, including a rise of almost 100 per cent in citizens of Asian countries outside the Indian sub-continent, a 37 per cent rise in nationals from African countries and a 20 per cent increase in nationals from the Indian sub-continent.

In contrast, there was a decline of 22 per cent in settlement by citizens from European countries and a 2 per cent drop in those from North and South America.

Almost 60 per cent of settlement rights were given because the foreign national was a dependant of a migrant already in Britain. More than 10,000 foreign nationals were given the right to settle because they were the spouse or dependant of someone in Britain.

The figures disclose that 9 per cent of all settlement rights were for husbands, including 4,480 men from the Indian sub-continent and 3,400 men from Africa.

Settlement grants to wives rose by 20 per cent to reach 30,000, or 17 per cent of the total. More than 7,000 wives from the Indian sub-continent and 4,600 from Africa were allowed to settle. More than 45,000 children were also given the right to settle — 45 per cent of the overall total for 2005. Almost 20 per cent of all settlement grants, or 33,800, were given to asylum-seekers.

Those settling are overwhelmingly young, with 72 per cent in 2005 being under the age of 35.

Separate figures published by the Home Office yesterday show that there were 30,800 asylum applications in 2005, the lowest figure since 1997.

Numbers have continued to fall this year, with new applications dropping by 15 per cent between the first and second quarters. Between April and June there were 5,490 applications — excluding dependants — the lowest level since the third quarter of 1993.

But the figures disclose the sheer scale of the task facing the Government in its efforts to increase the number of failed asylum-seekers removed from the country. A total of 13,730 failed asylum-seekers were removed in 2005, an increase of about 1,000 on the previous year but the highest on record. However, almost 3,000 of those were removed under the scheme in which the Government assists people to leave.

Overall, the number of failed asylum-seekers and illegal migrants removed from Britain fell to 58,200 in 2005, 10,000 fewer than the 2002 figure.

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