Britain registered record net immigration in 2022, adding 606,000 people, mostly from outside the European Union, according to figures released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Reuters and AFP reported.

“A series of unprecedented world events (…) and the lifting of restrictions following the coronavirus pandemic have led to record levels of international immigration to Great Britain,” the office’s press release says.

“The main drivers of this increase are people coming to the UK from non-EU countries for work, study or humanitarian reasons, including from Ukraine and Hong Kong,” the report said.

According to these statistics, 1.2 million people arrived in the UK in 2022 and 557,000 people left the country.

A huge number of migrants arrive in Britain from outside the EU

The largest number of arrivals came from countries outside the EU (925,000 people), followed by citizens of the Union (151,000 people). However, the figures are putting pressure on the Conservative government, which has promised to cut immigration and “get the borders under control” after Brexit.

“There is evidence that the government has completely lost control of our migration system,” Labor MP Stephen Kinnock told Sky News. Following the release of the ONS data, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told parliament that net immigration was expected to fall to pre-pandemic levels in the medium term.

The British government announced new rules on student visas on Tuesday, including strict restrictions on family reunification, as part of its wider plan to reduce migration.

“We witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of dependents of students arriving in the country with visas. It’s time to limit this road,” right-wing Interior Minister Suella Braverman said.