RDTCS have under section 4 of the Act an entitlement
to be registered as BCs after 5 years residence here.
This is especially significant for the Falkland Islanders
in view of the Home Secretary's assurance.
(Gibraltarians
whose position in EC is unique, will have the right to
register without a residential qualification.
n.)
The effect on the citizenship of the Falkland Islanders of Lord
Bruce's Bill ċ-
Leaving aside the considerable technical
defects of the Bill, its intention is clearly to
confer BC on the 400 Falkland Islanders mentioned
above who would otherwise become BDTCS. They would
thus acquire the statutory right of abode in the UK
which is inherent in the status of BC, as compared
with reliance on the present Ministerial assurances
that they would have no difficulty over admission to
the UK. (BNA 1981 amended the Immigration Act 1971
inter alia to provide that 'A person is under this Act
to have the right of abode in the United Kingdom if
he is a British citizen
❤
•
1).
The effect elsewhere of Lord Bruce's Bill
Other dependent. territories notably Hong Kong,
St Helena, Bermuda and Montserrat can be expected to
argue for similar treatment.
Representations from Hong Kong will be
narticularly difficult to handle