Newsgroup: italia.bologna.politica
Titolo: [IMMIGRAZIONE] Raggiunti livelli-record

www.telegraph.co.uk
Passports for migrants hit peak 
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
(Filed: 29/08/2003) 
Record numbers of foreign nationals were granted British 
citizenship last year, reflecting a dramatic rise in immigration 
which is now at unprecedented levels.
Figures published yesterday showed that 120,000 immigrants became 
citizens last year - a 33 per cent rise on 2001 and three times the 
number just six years ago. In the five years between 1998 and 2002, 
more than 400,000 foreigners were granted citizenship compared with 
210,000 in the previous five years.
About half the new citizens were people who qualified through being 
resident in the country for five years or more and around 30 per 
cent became British through marriage. The remainder were mainly 
dependant children.
In the late 1960s, about 75,000 new citizens a year were accepted, 
falling to about 50,000 after new laws were introduced in 1971. For 
about 25 years the annual figure remained close to this level, even 
falling to 37,000 in 1997, the year Labour took office. By 2002, 
however, the number granted citizenship had trebled to 120,000. Of 
these, almost 58,000 were on the grounds of residence, 34,000 were 
marriages and 26,000 children.
Three quarters were from Africa or Asia, a further 15 per cent were 
from Europe and just under 10 per cent were from the Americas and 
Oceania. More than half of those granted citizenship were under 34. 
The rapid acceleration over the past five years in the number of 
immigrants shows no sign of slowing. Last year saw another 115,000 
applications for citizenship from people already in the country, six 
per cent up on the previous year.
On top of that, more than 115,000 people - twice the number just 
six years ago - were allowed to settle permanently in 2002. Around 
half were joining relatives already in the country and another 
quarter were asylum seekers. Some 11,000 people who neither 
qualified through family reunion or as refugees have been allowed to 
stay indefinitely because they have been in the country for so long. 
The remainder were work-related settlements. They all become 
eligible for naturalisation after five years living here.
The latest immigration figures overshadowed asylum statistics 
showing that the number coming to Britain and claiming to be 
political refugees has fallen to around 4,000 a month, including 
dependants, the lowest level for five years. This suggests an annual 
total of about 50,000 - in line with Tony Blair's pledge to halve 
the number of asylum seekers compared with last year. One reason why 
the number has fallen markedly is a 70 per cent decrease in Iraqi 
nationals applying for asylum since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
There has also been a big reduction in the number already in the 
country applying for asylum. This could be the result of tough new 
rules that prevent people obtaining benefit unless they claim at the 
port of entry or soon after arrival.
Last night critics said there could be far more people staying in 
the country illegally than the figures suggest but they are not 
claiming asylum because they do not qualify for benefits. Despite 
government claims that a large proportion of asylum applicants are 
economic migrants, four in 10 were allowed to stay in the country 
last year either as refugees or with exceptional leave to remain.
David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, said the fall reflected the 
tough action taken by the Government to tighten border controls and 
remove benefits from late applicants.
"We now have half as many claims as we did nearly a year ago," he 
said. "Claims have fallen more than twice as much in the UK than 
elsewhere in Europe because of our tough measures."
However, while asylum numbers have declined across the European 
Union, Britain still remains the most attractive destination. UN 
figures show that in the first six months of this year, Britain 
received 33,140 applications, including dependants, while Germany 
had 26,362, France 24,360 and Austria had 14,781.
Oliver Letwin, the shadow home secretary, said: "The figures do 
little more than follow an international trend and we are still top 
of both the world and the EU asylum league."
Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: 
"There remains a strong possibility that just as many people are 
entering the country illegally, only fewer are claiming asylum."
Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of the Migrationwatch UK think-tank, 
said the figures had to be seen in the overall context of 
immigration which is "at by far the highest levels ever seen in the 
country".
 
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.

 © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.
Come tu stesso puoi notare,stai pubblicando degli articoli coperti da 
coyright.
Sono sicuro che tu hai chiesto il permesso scritto al telegraph per fare 
questo...
e che tu abbia pagato anche i diritti di utilizzo del materiale(che in 
inglese si chiamano fees)
Ma non ne sono poi così sicuro...
Perchè voi padani con la legge vi ci pulite... bhe,sappiamo cosa...
vi piace tirare i sassi dai cavalcavia...uccidere i genitori...
ti ricordi la mia email?
brutta gente questi padani...
e non pagano nemmeno i diritti d'autore...
bravi bravi... e poi siete VOI a fare i superiori sui "terroni" mafiosi e 
cattivi!!
Lorenzo
Lega per la secessione dell'Emilia Romagna dalla padania
-- 
Questa news è stata scritta con Knode
Knode è un software Open Source
che lavora sotto il sistema operativo Linux
http://www.gnu.org
http://knode.sourceforge.net
http://www.linux.it