ET MON
MINISTER
OF STATE
Richan,
『་༤,
CONFIDENTIAL
HKK 040/4
166
ку
he. 1313
HOME OFFICE
QUEEN ANNE'S GATE
LONDON SWIH 9AT
172
12th March 1985
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Mr. Galsworthy, Had
ccps/mince
psy lady young fr. Wilson M. Burrows, legal
Advisers.
Thank you for your letter of 8th March about non-Chinese BDTCs in Hong Kong and their children and grandchildren.
I had hoped to have a word
with you about this small, but awkward problem, but I gather you are out of the country today and I am therefore writing to give our reactions to the proposals in your letter.
The
如
Can I first deal with the suggestion that we might grant the people concerned either the right of abode here, or some indication that they might be admitted exceptionally for settlement under the Immigration Rules. Home Secretary and I are both clear that the Government cannot offer concessions on these lines. To do so would put people of other races in Hong Kong in a more favourable position than those many BDTCS of Chinese race who may feel apprehensive as to what would happen to them after 1997.
The grant
of a right of abode would, of course, amount to the grant of British citizenship. As regards admission for settlement, we do not think the
Government spokesman could, or should, go further than to say, if pressed, that:-
"In the case of any BN(O)s and BOCs who came under pressure to leave Hong Kong and had nowhere else to go, we would expect that the Government of the day would consider sympathetically whether to admit them, on a case-by-case basis, in the light of their circumstances."
I hope you would be prepared to take the line suggested above in dealing with any amendment on right of abode or admission that may be put downin the Lords.
Reverting now to the main subject of your letter: the position of the grandchildren of present BDTCS who may be stateless if born in Hong Kong at some date in the next century. The difficulty here is to offer any concession beyond the special provisions we have already made for the first generation born after 1997, which would not create a very awkward precedent in relation to British Overseas citizens in other parts of the world. Nor is it immediately apparent to us that a concession relating to the position. of children born in the next century will have sufficient practical effect to meet the misgivings that members of the House of Lords have expressed. That said, however, it must be for your colleagues handling the Bill to judge the Parliamentary temperature, and if you feel it is essential to offer something we would be prepared to accept the proposal put in your letter. This would mean that the Order in Council would include the provisions against statelessness already announced and a further provision analogous to section 17
Richard Luce Esq. M.P.
CONFIDENTIAL
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