- FILE
334
DOGABA
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
CONFIDENTIAL
RJ Fries Esq B2 Division Home Office Lunar House
10, March 1986
нии осо (4
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
1 1 MAR 1986
PA
REGISTRY
Action Taken
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
Elor Richard,
HONG KONG BRITISH NATIONALS (OVERSEAS) FACILITATING TRAVEL TO THIRD COUNTRIES
1.
55.5
330
to
I have seen copies of your letter of 16 January Dennis Amy and his reply of 30 January. The question of the Visa Abolition Agreement with
Agreement with the Netherlands raises the wider issue of what approaches we should mak e to third countries about the introduction of BN (O) status in 1987.
2.
some thought
I
We in the FCO gave
whole to this question early last year and agreed that we would adopt a similar approach to that adopted when the British Nationality Act 1981 was brought into effect in 1983. think that the time has come to take Our thinking further. I suggest that we should hold a meeting in the nex t few weeks to discuss exactly how we are going to mount an international campaign
on behalf of BN (O) passport holders, to ensure that they enjoy the same rights of accessS to third countries as Hong Kong BDTCs. Ministers have told Parliament that this campaign will take place between the time that the Nationality Order in Council is in place and the beginning of the issue of passports from 1 July 1987. The Order may be in place by the end of March if the latest formula for the passport endorsement proves acceptable, and we should, therefore, be seriously thinking about the form this campaign is
take.
3.
to
By way of preparation for such a meeting we have prepared very rough
rough first drafts of what a third person note and explanatory memorandum for
and Foreign Commonweal th Diplomatic Missions in London might look
like. I attach copies of these and of
of the 1982 notes the context of the BNA. (Parallel approaches would, course, be made in capitals.) Perhaps you would let
in
me
CONFIDENTIAL
/have