Pakistani immigration to Britain is still rising

The population flows between the UK and Pakistan have remained high in the past years. Each year 250,000 Pakistanis come to Britain to visit, work or marry, and some 350,000 British citizens journey in the opposite direction, mainly to visit family. Links are reinforced by ingrained marriage customs: six of ten ethnic Pakistanis in Britain pick a spouse from Pakistan.

After a major police raid on April 8, in which 11 Pakistani nationals got arrested for an alleged terrorist plot, vigilance remains high on who immigrates from what region for what purposes. However, the largest migration flows are still within families, mainly for the purpose of marriage. British-born men are especially keen on marrying a Pakistani women, while their female counterparts would rather go with British-Pakistani men, but since there is a lack of such on the marriage market, they sometimes have to import a husband, too. The article argues that extremism is much less of a problem in this respect; it is rather imported poverty that might be a Pakistani threat to Britain.

Share Button

Sources