Ahmet Gürhan Kartal
February 25, 2016•Update: February 25, 2016
LONDON
The net migration to the U.K. has gone up by 31,000 in the year ending Sept. 2015, figures by the Office for National Statistics revealed Thursday.
The figures came straight after Prime Minister David Cameron’s EU “in-out” referendum announcement for June 23, following a “good deal” with Brussels as a result of a renegotiation process that aimed curbing welfare benefits to EU citizens in the U.K.
The total yearly migration into the U.K., on the other hand, showed a slight drop since June 2015 from 336,000 -- a peak number -- to 323,000, according to the latest figures.
The net EU migration into the country has now reached 172,000, including the 55,000 Bulgarians and Romanians, according to the ONS.
The figures were quickly picked up by the leader of Eurosceptic UKIP leader Nigel Farage, one of the main political figures who back a possible Brexit.
“Romanian and Bulgarian figures have gone up significantly by 55,000 in the year ending September 2015, even higher than I predicted,” Farage said on Twitter.
“Either we Leave the European Union and control our borders or we have a complete open door inside EU,” he said.
Britain’s referendum on its EU membership will be held on Thursday, June 23, Cameron announced at the end of a renegotiation which lasted nine months.
