HOME OFFICE
QUEEN ANNE'S GATE, LONDON SWIH 9AT
MINISTER
OF STATE
Our Ref IMG/86 9/387/2 (S)
- 6 MAR 1986
530
Vivian
Tim Renton has asked me to reply to your letter of 21 January about the position of Indians in Hong Kong and the concerns expressed by Mr Narain of the Hong Kong Indians Associations.
The people to whom you refer form part of the population of three and a quarter million British Dependent Territories Citizens in Hong Kong who will lose that status in 1997, when sovereignty over Hong Kong is transferred to China, but who will be entitled to acquire the new status of British National (Overseas). The 10,000 or so non-ethnic Chinese, unlike the great majority of British Dependent Territories Citizens in Hong Kong, will not be regarded by the Chinese as their nationals. They have therefore asked to be granted British citizenship rather than British National (Overseas) status if they would otherwise become stateless in 1997.
The ethnic minorities' concern over their position in 1997 was echoed in recent debates in both Houses of Parliament. The Government has undertaken to give their request careful consideration before deciding on the final form in which to lay before Parliament the draft Order in Council to implement the relvant nationality provisions. However, I should add that in the unlikely event of any British nationals being forced to leave Hong Kong, and having nowhere else to go, we have made it clear on several occasions that we would expect the Government of the day to consider sympathetically whether to admit such people on a case by case basis in the light of their particular circumstances.
Vivian Bendall Esq MP
on e
دسه
(DAVID WADDINGTON)