BBC: Romanians and Bulgarians Working in UK up 26%

BBC

The number of Romanians and Bulgarians working in the UK rose by a quarter in three months, official figures say.

The Office for National Statistics said 141,000 were employed from April to June compared with 112,000 in the previous three months, up nearly 26%.

Temporary restrictions on the type of jobs people from the two countries can do are due to expire later this year.

This has led immigration campaigners to claim that there will be an even bigger increase next year.

BBC political correspondent Susana Mendonca said the issue of migration from Romania and Bulgaria was a controversial one.

The government has not said how many more migrants it expected once the labour market was open fully to the two countries.

Travel freely

Migration Watch UK, which campaigns for tighter controls on immigration, said the latest figures "suggests that still larger numbers will arrive next year".

The Home Office said Romanian and Bulgarian nationals made up just 0.3% of the people employed in the UK.

A spokeswoman added that over the same period more people from western EU countries had come to work in Britain.

Bulgarians and Romanians have had the right to visa-free travel to the UK since 2007 when their countries joined the EU.

But there have been temporary restrictions on the kind of jobs they could take, which will be dropped at the end of the year in accordance with EU rules.

In response the UK government is considering limiting access by migrants to benefits, healthcare and housing.

Diplomats from Bulgaria and Romania have repeatedly stressed that they are not expecting a "wave" of migration from their countries.

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