HONG KONG ORDER IN COUNCIL
BRIEFING NOTE
FALKLAND ISLANDS
BACKGROUND
EFFECT OF THE BRITISH NATIONALITY ACT 1981 ON THE
FALKLAND ISLANDERS
1.
The British Nationality Act 1981 did not affect
the position of the Falkland Islanders. The Islanders,
numbering about 1,800, were previously citizens of the
United Kingdom and Colonies. About 1,400 of them had
right of abode under the Immigration Act 1971 because
of their ancestral connections with the United Kingdom.
The remaining 400 did not have the right of abode. On
1 January 1983 the 1,400 with right of abode became
British citizens as well as British Dependent Territori
citizens automatically under the BNA 1981. The
remainder became British Dependent Territories citizens
only. During the Passage of the 1981 Bill Baroness
Vickers introduced an amendment which would give all
Falkland Islanders British citizenship. This was lost
by one vote. The Government took the view agreed by
Parliament that it would be wrong to make a
distinction between one dependency and the others.
they gave assurances that in the event of any emergency
the problems of any of the Islanders who did not have
the right of abode would be sympathetically considered.
This commitment was honoured at the outbreak of the
conflict with Argentina, when the Government announced
that no Falkland Islander would have any difficulty in
coming to the UK whether he had right of abode or not.
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BARONESS VICKERS BILL
2.
In 1981 Robert Kilroy-Silk sponsored a Bill to
amend the BNA 1981 so as to give the Falkland Islanders
British citizenship. Sponsorship was taken over by
Lord Donington, and subsequently by Baroness Vickers.