relevant date by virtue of a connection with Hong
Kong and
b)
persons who are British Dependent Territories
citizens by virtue of any such connection
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As long as that connection is necessary to establish their
citizenship then it is right that they should come within the
terms of the Order. The terms "a connection" and "any such
connection" cannot therefore be confined to an exclusive connection
with Hong Kong.
Background
6.
The bulk of the persons affected will be BDTCs by virtue
only of a connection with Hong Kong. But since Hong Kong will
cease to be a dependent territory in 1997, it follows from the
wording of the UK Memorandum and the Hong Kong Act that any
connection with Hong Kong which results in a person holding British
Dependent Territories citizenship must also be severed. But those
persons who can show that they can derive their British Dependent
Territories citizenship not only from a connection with Hong Kong
(either wholly or partly), but also wholly from a separate
connection with another dependent territory, are excluded from the
provisions of the Order by virtue of Article 3. An example, as
given in the White Paper is:
a person born on or after 1 January 1983 in Bangkok
to a father who was born in Hong Kong and a mother
who was born in Gibraltar.
(Paragraph 19(a)).
Such a person would be a BDTC even without the Hong Kong
connection, since he or she could demonstrate an independent route
to that citizenship by virtue of a connection with Gibraltar
through the mother.
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