UK Admits to Fall in Work Permissions for Bulgarians, Romanians

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | November 21, 2007, Wednesday // 00:00
Bulgaria: UK Admits to Fall in Work Permissions for Bulgarians, Romanians "If you don't hold a work permit, you are not allowed to work in the UK," reads a poster presented as part of an information campaign rolled out by the British Embassy in Sofia at the end of last year. File photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)

The number of Bulgarians and Romanians who were given permission to work in the United Kingdom fell in the third quarter, according to the latest figures.

The Home Office's quarterly statistics show that the permissions went down from 9,335 between April and June to 7,455 in the third quarter from July to September, the Guardian reported.

The latest official statistics provide fresh evidence that migration from eastern Europe has peaked with 56,000 people from Poland and other new EU states registered to work in Britain between July and September this year, down by 9,000 over the same period a year ago.

Home Office figures also showed that the removal of failed asylum seekers has fallen to the lowest level for three years as immigration staff concentrate all their efforts on meeting Gordon Brown's target of deporting 4,000 foreign national prisoners by the end of the year.

The quarterly asylum figures published yesterday show that 5,890 asylum seekers arrived in Britain between July and September with China, Eritrea, Iraq and Iran accounting for the highest number of applications.

The total of asylum applications so far this year is 16,520 - the lowest level since 1992.

The British government recently decided to continue restrictions on migrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania, a move that was greeted with disappointment by both countries and allegations that the government figures inflated the number of applications for work permits.

The measures were first approved in October 2006 to curb immigration to the UK from Romania and Bulgaria, making food processing and agriculture the only sectors initially opened to "less skilled" workers from the two countries.

The restrictions were extended at the beginning of November until at least the end of 2008 under pressure over the number of foreign workers coming into the country.

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