Asylum claims plummet
By politics.co.uk staff
The number of people claiming asylum in the UK has fallen, according to official figures.
The figure for the last three months of 2009 fell 30% to 4,765.
The number of unauthorised migrants voluntarily leaving or being deported from the UK fell by three per cent.
There were far fewer immigrants coming from central and eastern Europe, with the Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures showing just 68,000 new arrivals from new eastern European states, compared to 100,000 in the year to June 2008.
The drop is thought to be a result of the financial crisis making Britain a less attractive country to migrate to.
The number of people claiming citizenship was up by almost a third, reaching 51,315 in the last quarter of 2009. The boost could be a response to government announcements that the criteria for citizenship is set to be toughened up.
