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14. Many of those leaving are well-educated and
professionally qualified people, particularly in the age group of 25-44. This loss of experienced and well-qualified personnel has inevitably put severe pressure on the supply of skilled manpower to fill key positions in Hong Kong.
If
15. Many of these emigrants are leaving Hong Kong only in order to obtain the insurance of a foreign passport. they could acquire such an assurance without leaving Hong
Kong, many of them would prefer to stay. With these
considerations in mind, the Government introduced a
nationality scheme to give full British citizenship to 50,000 key people and their dependants without requiring
them to leave the territory in order to qualify. The
British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act received Royal Assent on
26 July 1990. The British Nationality (Hong Kong)
(Selection Scheme) Order 1990, setting out details of the
selection scheme, came into force on 1 December 1990.
16. The scheme will be operated in two tranches.
Applications for the 43,250 places under the first tranche
will be accepted up to the end of February 1991. A second
tranche will be reserved for allocation nearer to 1997 in
order to cater for those who will by then have moved into
key positions and to give anyone who failed to secure a
place in the first round a second chance.
17. The scheme has had a stabilising effect on the
community and has helped to restore local confidence. It
has also acted as a catalyst, encouraging other countries to implement various insurance schemes specifically for Hong Kong people. The Government continued to encourage the international community to support Hong Kong in whatever ways it could, including the introduction of schemes to give
Hong Kong people the right of abode without their having to
leave the territory. A number of countries have taken
For example, the United States'
action of this kind.
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