Vast majority of recent migrants are here to stay, says think-tank

The majority of the two million immigrants to Britain since 1991 are here to stay, according to an analysis of official figures.

Most new arrivals come from Third World areas such as Africa and India.

According to the Migrationwatch think-tank, which provided the analysis, people from this group are less likely to return home.

Only eight per cent of immigrants between 1991 and 2006 came from the new European Union nations of Eastern Europe. They are entitled to move freely between the UK and their home country.

Migrationwatch chief Sir Andrew Green said the analysis disproved the claim that many recent immigrants are likely to return home.

The figures also showed that immigration controls - which apply only to non-EU countries - remain a vital way of regulating Britain's population.

The report came as Immigration Minister Liam Byrne prepared to argue today that migrants must agree to live by a 'code of conduct', committing them to paying taxes and learn the English language.

He will say this is needed for good community relations.

Mr Byrne will also call for the August bank holiday to become Britishness Day, the focal point of a campaign for 'stronger shared standards'. It should be a 'celebration of what we like and love about living in this country', with street parties, carnivals and sporting events.

Migrationwatch analysts based their report on an examination of the official figures for migration between 1991 and 2006.

They studied net migration - the number of people leaving the country to live abroad compared with the number arriving. They counted those who said they were leaving or staying for more than a year and they included British citizens emigrating or returning home.

In all, they found that immigration directly added 2.3million to the population over the 15-year period.

Fewer countries took more emigrants from Britain than they sent here. They included Australia, which had net immigration from Britain of 212,000, and New Zealand, which gained 44,000 overall. Western countries in the European Union - including France, Spain and Portugal - gained 72,000 more people from Britain than came here. All the other parts of the world sent more migrants to Britain than they received, the breakdown showed.

It recorded a surplus of 633,000 from countries with few historic or current ties to the UK, including non-Commonwealth African nations such as Somalia and Congo, as well as Indonesia and the Far East.

Net immigration from the Indian sub-continent totalled 597,000 between 1991 and 2006. However, there were just 205,000 immigrants from the new EU countries. Most of them are thought to have arrived just before and after April 2004 - the date Poland and eight others joined.

Sir Andrew said: 'It is hard to avoid the conclusion that those arriving from Third World countries are unlikely to go home. Those who stay are almost entirely from countries subject to immigration control.'

The Tories said that the findings showed that limits on immigration were necessary. Spokesman Damian Green said: 'These figures blow a hole in the Government's argument that the Conservative policy of an annual limit would not be effective.

'Until we have this limit, public confidence in the immigration system will not be restored.'

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said: 'We are introducing sweeping changes to the immigration system.

'The Australia-style points based system will cover six out of every ten migrants wanting to come to the UK.'