NATIONALITY BICONFIDENTA FOR NEW CITIZENSHIPS
1. It is assumed in this paper that the Citizenship of the
United Kingdom and Colonies will be replaced by three
the paper
citizenships; and the purpose of is to consider the name
of the one to be held by people who are connected with
existing colonies.
The Green Paper
2. The Green Paper contemplated that there would be only
two citizenships, ie British Citizenship and British Overseas
It mentioned the differing rights which
Citizenship.
holders of the latter citizenship would have according to
whether or not they had a connection with an existing
colony, but made no suggestion of a separate colonial
citizenship.
Attitude of the Colonies: General
3. The possibility of establishing a separate citizenship
for the Colonies rather than including the inhabitants in a
British Overseas Citizenship with people connected with ex-
colonies, has been mentioned in confidence to Colonial
Governors and has met with general support.
Difficulty
has arisen, however, with Hong Kong, which not only has the
overwhelming majority of the people concerned, but also
has special problems. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
view is that whatever solution is regarded as suitable for
Hong Kong will be such that other colonies will fall into