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European Economic Community plans to relax its overall restrictions on on try by citizens of a EEC country to another member country and to streamline entry procedures after Britain has become a member. And this has given the British Government one more cxcuse for redefining the meaning of "British Citizenship."
But if wo take a retrospective look at how the immigration and nationality laws in Britain have been enacted and revised
since the war, we shall discover that the root cause of these revisions is the disintegrati on of the British Empire and the breaking-away of her colonies. Although the British Government has experienced a lot of difficulties, she still cannot manage to deter inmigration from former colonies. Racial tensions in the country are running high, and she is still suffering from a
slump. Is it not likely that the British Government, while licking her wounds and having learnt a painful lesson, is sceing rovising her Nationality Law as a tool to forestall possible immigration from existing dependencies which may break away from her one day? It may be noted that the population of Hong Kong takes up 79% of the total population of Britain's existing dependencies.
As pointed out in the London Times, the "British
Rationality Law Groen Paper" only outlines some of the principles of the British Government's future logislation without making
clear its position on other matters. But I am sure of onc thing: the British Government, holding firm to the notion that what she should do is to "minimise her obligation to former dependencies and to existing dependencies when they break away from her", is to consolidate most of the existing immigre ti on and nationality laws, scal up loopholes, clear away ambiguities and tighten up restrictions in her enactment of the new law. Tine will tell whether the hi to Imper and the Bill that come in the wake of the Green Faper will actually take this
direction.
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