12. My rt hon Friend the Home Secretary referred to this pledge
during the Second Reading of the British Nationality Bill on
28 January last year. He said
"On the Falkland Islands, I want to say this. In December 1979,
following the publication of the White Paper on the revision
of the immigration rules, my hon Friend the Minister of State,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, sent a message to the people
of the Falkland Islands assuring them that in the event of an
emergency the problems of any islander who did not possess the
right of abode in the United Kingdom and who was in trouble at
that time would be most carefully and sympathetically considered.
In the light of the concern recently expressed on behalf of the
islanders, I wish to reaffirm that in such circumstances they can
depend upon the most sympathetic consideration of their position".
13. My Lords, this assurance was repeated at all appropriate stages
of the Bill. The promise was kept when, at the outbreak of the
conflict with Argentina, my rt hon Friend the Home Secretary announced
on 8 April that no Falkland Islander would have any difficulty over
admission to the United Kingdom whether he had the right of abode or
not. That remains the position.