V VAR
zada dual hand de Voda ada di Fahrud
the host governments concerned to expel them. The most serious problems could arise in East Africa and Malaysia. If Ministers decide to publish a Green Paper this winter, 24 years are likely to elapse between publication and the coming into force of a new Act. Immigration control during this lengthy period could prove a difficult and delicate problem.
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8. In East Africa there are about 55,000 Asian United Kingdom passport holders (UKPHS) who are gradually moving to this country under the special voucher scheme. The Government have publicly reiterated the undertaking to accept UKPHS in this country and to operate the voucher
•scheme until the transfer is complete. Nevertheless, pub- lication of the proposals could increase the rate of ap- plicants for vouchers, thus disturbing the orderly progress now being made towards final settlement of this problem. Furthermore, the governments of some countries might inter- pret the change, as evidence that HMG is attempting to divest itself of its responsibilities for these people and use it as a pretext for more expulsions.
9. India accepted a number of the Asians expelled from East Africa against an undertaking from HMG that they would be admitted to the United Kingdom at any time they wished to come. The proposals could be expected to have the same effect as in East Africa. Although the numbers are smaller, the reactions in Pakistan might be the same.
10. There are about 250,000 British subjects without citizen- ship (BSWCs) in Sri Lanka, nearly all Tamil tea plantation workers, whose future is the subject of an agreement between Sri Lanka and India under which these two countries are grad- ually absorbing them all as citizens. Our proposed new citizen- ship provisions would not affect them but could draw attention to the fact that they still have a status in United Kingdom law, causing them to claim it or the governments concerned to claim it for them.
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