CONFIDENTIAL
the
to
ethnic minorities, I ed by the Council of Hong Kong Indian
Associations have mounted a sustained and vociferous campaign
secure from HMG the right to be registered as British Citizens.
iheir campaign has been supported by the Unofficial Members of the
Legislative Council in Hong Kong and by most speakers in the January
Parliamentary debates.
5.
The main thrust of their argument is that the status of British
(Overseas) does not provide them wi th an effective
citizenship because:
National
a)
b)
I t does not confer upon the holder the right of abode in
territory of the country which issues it (i.e. the
the
UK);
it cannot be passed on to future generations;
c)
it cannot guarantee right of abode in Hong Kong; and
d)
al though two generations born after 1 July 1997 will have
a form of British nationality, the third and subsequent
generations will be stateless.
Our response has been:
from
BN (0) is an effective citizenship and a part
transmissibility confers the same rights as BDTC. Also we
6.
a)
widely as the BDTC passport;
aim to ensure that the BN (0)
passport i s accepted as
BN(O) cannot confer right of abode in the UK because only
British Citizenship can do that.
b)
right of abode in UK either;
BDTC does not confer
CONFIDENTIAL.