By IANS,
London : Over 50 percent foreigners including Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were issued British passports in 2009, official statistics show.
A total of 203,790 passports were issued in 2009 with more than half of the recipients coming from Africa and the Indian sub-continent. This total was a 58 percent rise from 129,375 in 2008, Daily Mail reported Thursday citing Home Office figures.
“Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and people from the Philippines were the nationalities that made up most of the statistics,” the report said.
The people were awarded a passport because they were long-term residents. Another quarter gained British citizenship through marriage.
This was the highest number of passports issued in a year in 47 years.
Meanwhile, other official statistics released Thursday said immigration to Britain had dropped by nine percent. Around 503,000 people came into Britain last year, compared to 555,000 in the previous 12 months.
The number of entrants from eastern Europe also dropped 55 percent to 45,000. This includes people from countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic, the International Passenger Survey (IPS) said.