LONDON: Record immigration caused the population of England and Wales to rise by 610,000 to 60.9 million in mid-2023, the largest annual increase in 75 years, official data showed on Monday.
What statisticians term ‘natural’ population growth — the difference between births and deaths — fell to just 400, the lowest since 1978, while net international migration rose to 622,000, up from 548,500 in the previous 12 months.
A net 13,800 people also moved from England and Wales to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Britain’s Office for National Statistics said the population increase in England and Wales was the largest since 1948, when a post-World War Two baby boom and the return of British military personnel serving overseas caused a rise of 1.5 million.
The population for the whole United Kingdom was 67.6 million in mid 2022. Data for 2023 is not yet available.
Economic output has not kept up with the rising population. Based on provisional population figures, gross domestic product per head in 2023 was 0.7 percent lower than a year earlier.
Net migration to the United Kingdom hit a record 764,000 in 2022 and fell 10 percent to 685,000 in 2023, but is more than double its level in 2015, just before the Brexit referendum.
Reducing immigration was a key goal of many Britons who voted to leave the European Union.
Britain’s previous Conservative government said it wanted to reduce net immigration, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party pledged in the election campaign to do so too by making the economy less reliant on foreign workers.
Post-Brexit changes to visas sharply reduced the number of EU migrants to Britain, but new work visa rules led to a surge in immigration from India, Nigeria and Pakistan, often to fill health and social care vacancies.
At the end of last year the government tightened rules to stop low-paid social care workers from bringing dependents.
England and Wales population rises by most in 75 years amid influx from Pakistan, elsewhere
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England and Wales population rises by most in 75 years amid influx from Pakistan, elsewhere
- Post-Brexit changes to visas sharply reduced the number of EU migrants to Britain
- But new work visa rules led to a surge in immigration from Pakistan, India and Nigeria
Pakistani security forces kill three separatist militants in southwestern Balochistan
- The incident occurred in Mastung where the security forces took action against Balochistan Liberation Army
- Military says the BLA militants were involved in the assassination of Panjgur’s deputy commissioner on Aug. 12
ISLAMABAD: Security forces in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province killed three militants belonging to a separatist organization and injured three others, according to a statement issued by the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on Tuesday.
The incident occurred in Mastung district, where the security forces launched an intelligence-based operation against the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which seeks independence for the province, citing alleged exploitation and marginalization of its residents by the federal government, a claim the Pakistani state denies.
The BLA has been involved in numerous attacks against Pakistani security forces and infrastructure and is designated as a terrorist organization by Pakistan and other countries.
“On [the night between] 18/19 August 2024, security forces conducted an intelligence based operation in Mastung District,” the ISPR said in an official statement, adding “three terrorists of BLA” were killed after intense fire exchange while three others were injured.
“These terrorists were involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area and were also responsible for shahadat [martyrdom] of Deputy Commissioner of Panjgur, Mr. Zakir Ali, on 12 August 2024,” it continued, referring to Ali’s killing while he was traveling on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his vehicle.
The ISPR said the operation against the BLA separatists had avenged the “heinous act,” bringing its perpetrators to justice.
The statement added Pakistani security forces are determined to prevent any attempt to sabotage Balochistan’s peace, stability and progress.
Balochistan is considered a region of significant strategic importance by successive governments in Islamabad.
Pakistan, in collaboration with China, is heavily invested in developing Balochistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The initiative includes the development of Gwadar Port, which is set to become a major hub for trade and industry.
Additionally, the Gwadar Free Zone and other infrastructure projects aim to create a massive industrial zone, enhancing regional connectivity and promising employment opportunities for the local population.
Pakistan’s Sindh orders inquiry into monsoon child brides
- After floods in 2022, rights workers warned that child weddings were on the rise due to climate-driven economic insecurity
- In a report published on August 16, AFP spoke to girls married at the ages of 13 and 14 in exchange for money at villages in Sindh
KARACHI: A Pakistan provincial government has ordered an inquiry into child marriages in areas affected by floods in 2022 following an exclusive AFP story on the subject.
Pakistan’s high rate of marriages for underage girls had been inching lower in recent years, but after unprecedented floods in 2022 rights workers warned that such weddings were on the rise due to climate-driven economic insecurity.
In a report published on August 16, AFP spoke to girls married at the ages of 13 and 14 in exchange for money at villages hard hit by the floods in Sindh province.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has ordered an inquiry into the matter, his spokesman Rasheed Channa told AFP.
“The Chief Minister wants to understand the social impact of the rains on the people of this area. After the report is submitted, he will visit the area and generate recommendations.
“My personal opinion is that there has always been this tradition of early marriages, but the floods have made people very desperate.”
In the village of Khan Mohammad Mallah, 45 underage girls have been married since last year’s monsoon rains — 15 of them in May and June this year, the NGO Sujag Sansar told AFP.
The summer monsoon between July and September is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security, but scientists say climate change is making them heavier and longer, raising the risk of landslides, floods and long-term crop damage.
“This has led to a new trend of ‘monsoon brides’,” said Mashooque Birhmani, the founder of Sujag Sansar, which works with religious scholars to combat child marriage.
Many villages in the agricultural belt of Sindh have not recovered from the 2022 floods, which plunged a third of the country underwater, displaced millions and ruined harvests.
“Before the 2022 rains, there was no such need to get girls married so young in our area,” 65-year-old village elder Mai Hajjani told AFP.
Pakistan reaffirms ‘unwavering support’ for Palestinian right to self-determination
- Pakistan does not recognize nor have any diplomatic relations with Israel
- Islamabad calls for independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as capital
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday met outgoing Ambassador of Palestine, Ahmed Jawad A.A. Rabei, and reaffirmed the South Asian nation’s “unwavering support” for the people of Palestine and their right to self-determination as war rages in Gaza.
The current war in the Palestinian enclave began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military has since levelled swathes of the Gaza strip, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
“The Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination,” Sharif’s office said in a statement. “He strongly condemned Israel’s barbaric actions against innocent Palestinians in Gaza since October 7, 2023 that had led to the heart wrenching killing of over 40000 innocent Palestinians, including women and children, and more than 90000 injured.”
Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s “strong commitment and support” for efforts to find a “just and lasting resolution” of the Palestine issue through a two-state solution with the creation of an independent state of Palestine.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The South Asian country has also dispatched several humanitarian aid consignments for Palestinians.
Pakistan, Bangladesh gear up for first Test match in Rawalpindi tomorrow
- Fast bowling is strength of Green Shirts, captain Shan Masood says ahead of game
- Visitors Bangladesh will be hoping to overturn their no-win record against Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The first Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh is set to begin in Rawalpindi city tomorrow, Wednesday, with Pakistan Test Captain Shan Masood advising his team to focus on its strength, which is fast bowling.
The first Test match will commence on Aug. 21 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The second will start on Aug. 30 at the same venue.
Bangladesh will be hoping to overturn their no-win record against Pakistan, having lost 12 of the last 13 Tests, with just one draw.
Addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi, Masood expressed hope to win both matches.
“Our focus is on our strengths and fast bowling is Pakistan’s strength,” the cricketer said.
Having released their only spinner, Abrar Ahmed, Pakistan will enter the Test with an all-pace attack — a ploy they last used five years ago against Sri Lanka at the same venue.
Following a 3-0 rout in Australia earlier this year, Pakistan brought in former Aussie paceman Jason Gillespie as Test coach, while Adelaide groundsman Damien Hough was hired to improve the standard of pitches.
Masood said even though the Green Shirts lost the Test series against Australia, “there were lot of things we did right in Australia and things we need to take forward.”
When asked about the conditions of the Rawalpindi cricket stadium, Masood said cricketers needed to be flexible as a Test-playing team but conditions at Rawalpindi favored batters and seamers.
Bangladesh begin a two-Test series in Pakistan this week with their preparations severely hampered by the political turmoil that has wracked the country. Unrest that led to the overthrow of prime minister Sheikh Hasina kept the team’s foreign coaches indoors, strictly following adviseries from their embassies, while mass protests stopped the team from assembling for practice sessions.
The make-up of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is also up in the air, after president Nazmul Hassan fled the country due to his association with Hasina.
The two-match Test series is part of the World Test Championship’s third cycle, with Pakistan sixth in the current nine-team table and Bangladesh eighth.
Teams:
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed
Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah in final stages to acquire Saudi shares in Samba Bank — Bloomberg
- Bank Alfalah is Pakistan’s fourth largest lender by assets and is owned by UAE-headquartered Abu Dhabi Group
- It has seen second fastest deposit growth in past five years among Pakistani banks, according to data from Bloomberg
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah Ltd. is open to further acquisitions to boost growth as the South Asian nation tries to emerge from a chronic economic crisis, Bloomberg reported this week, with the lender entering the final stages of reaching an agreement to acquire Saudi National Bank’s majority stake in Samba Bank Ltd.
Closing that deal should make Bank Alfalah a contender for future assets that go up for sale, Chief Executive Officer Atif Aslam Bajwa said in an interview to Bloomberg.
“One-off opportunities will come by, and we want to be in play for that,” Bajwa said. “We’re looking for organic and inorganic growth.”
Bank Alfalah is Pakistan’s fourth largest lender by assets and is owned by United Arab Emirates-headquartered Abu Dhabi Group. It has seen the second fastest deposit growth in the past five years among Pakistani banks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
That growth has come as its home country has been lurching from one loan to another from the International Monetary Fund to keep up with its debt payments that stand at about $26 billion for the year starting July. The nation expects the IMF’s executive board to approve a new $7 billion loan program later this month.
Pakistan has also asked China to “reprofile” some of its debts by extending the payment period to create more breathing room.
“The IMF program is paramount for the country to achieve because that will help in giving confidence to the rest of the world,” Bajwa said.
Pakistan’s central bank cut the policy rate by a cumulative 250 basis points in June and July from a record 22 percent. Inflation slumped from a record 38 percent in May 2023 to 11 percent in July.
The central bank’s efforts have been supportive to Pakistan’s equity markets, Bajwa said, noting that he expects interest rates to fall to single digits by 2025.
“The equity markets have been responding quite nicely,” he said.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index has rallied 71 percent in dollar terms in the past year, making it the best performing stock market globally:
“Some foreign funds have started coming back into the market to give it some support.”
