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500
South Asians enter Great Britain every day
LONDON:
South Asians or citizens of ‘new Commonwealth’
nations such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were the largest
single group of immigrants to the UK last year, government
number-crunchers have computed. An estimated 121,000 arrivals from
the ‘new Commonwealth’, most of them from the Indian sub-continent,
added a startling 500 people per day to the population of Britain,
the Office of National Statistics said on Thursday.
Britain officially regards the ‘new Commonwealth’ as comprising
Commonwealth countries other than Australia, Canada, New Zealand and
South Africa. But commentators admit that the ‘new Commonwealth’ is
official speak for coloured Commonwealth nations, especially those on
the Indian subcontinent.
The
revelation triggered a fierce row on Thursday with British Asian
policy wonks and researchers challenging the controversial
contention that two- hirds of the UK’s long-term settlers in 2005
originated in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Danny Sriskandarajah, a prominent public policy researcher of South
Asian origin, said it was untrue and scaremongering of the very
worst sort to insist that the largest bloc of long-term settlers
belonged to the sub-continent.
8 November 2006
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