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11.
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if such children would atherwise be stateless, and ii) any former
Hong Kong BDTCs who are not regarded as Chinese nationals and, for
whatever reason, do not acquire the new nationality status, if they
too would otherwise be stateless. The second provision permits the
inclusion in the Order in Council of the detailed amendments that
will be required to achieve the objectives set out in subparagraph 1 of paragraph 2 and to other commitments in the UK Memorandum.
Paragraph 2 (4) provides that orders shall only be made under this
paragraph after complying with the affirmative resolution procedure
of both Houses of Parliament.
DIFFICULTIES WHICH MAY ARISE
Four main areas of difficulty may arise with respect
with respect to this part of
the Draft Bill.
AMENDMENT TO THE BNA 1981
to
Some Lords may wish to take the opportunity to propose amendments the British Nationality Art 198 1 for purposes quite unrelated to
Hong Kong. Ministers will wish to resist these on
they would be inappropriate in a Hong Kong Bill.
on the
the grounds that
INCLUSION OF NATIONALITY PROVISIONS IN THE BILL
Some Lords may question why
nationality provisions need to be
included in the draft Bill, while others may consider the provisions
are not detailed enough.
Those who question why they are included at all may argue that these
are purely a matter for HMG, that they do not need to be enacted
before the agreement is ratified, and that it would be preferable to
deal with them
them separately at a later date. Ministers will wish to
necessary to ret ou t
on nationality arising
To do otherwise would
in
take the line that in HMG's judgment it is
the Bill the framework of the legislation
from the agreement and the UK Memorandum.
perpetuate uncertainty and might lead to doubts as to HMG's
willingness to implement the provisions of the Memorandum.
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