London, May 18 (PTI): A record number of foreigners, including 13,540 Indians, were given British passports last year bringing the overall number of migrants granted citizenship since 1997 to more than 700,000.

Almost 70 per cent of the new Britons in 2004 came from Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the rest of Asia, according to home office figures published today.
The number of people given British citizenship has risen every year since the Labour Party came to power in 1997.

One-third of the new citizens are African migrants, a quarter are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and 12 per cent from the rest of Asia.

Migrants from Pakistan top the list with a total of 14,125, or 10 per cent, followed by nearly as many Somalis, 13,540 Indians, 6,370 South Africans and 6,280 Nigerians.
More than half are aged between 25 and 44, almost one in five is a child under 16 and one in 10 is between 16 and 24 years.

New English language tests for prospective citizens appeared to be having some effect in reducing applications, which fell by 8 per cent to 135,000, compared to a 28 per cent rise in 2003.

Nurse crisis looms

The state-funded National Health Services (NHS) hospitals in the UK could face a future staff crisis as overseas nurses, including those from India, have been considering taking up jobs in other countries, a study revealed today.
Four of 10 overseas nurses admitted they were thinking about leaving the NHS to work in other countries, the research by the Royal College of Nursing and the King’s Fund think-tank showed.

The study also found that two-thirds of Filipino nurses — one of the largest overseas nursing staff groups in London — were considering jobs in the US.

“The NHS and independent healthcare sector rely heavily on overseas nurses. Without them, parts of the health service would collapse. They perform a crucial and valuable role but our survey shows the NHS is playing a high-risk game by relying on the overseas staff to commit long term to the NHS,” the report said.