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From: Sir Brian Tovey, KCMG
Raymond Whitney, Esq., OBE, House of Commons,
London SW1A OAA.
27 July 1992
Dear Mr Whitney,
It was a great pleasure to meet you at the Seminar on the Future of Hong Kong which took place on 19 June; I found the event stimulating and thought-provoking, and was grateful to have been invited to attend.
I am now presuming to write to you on a topic related to those which were discussed on 19 June. As I am sure you know, the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act of 1990 permits those Hong Kong residents who successfully apply for British citizenship also to obtain British citizenship for their families. However, those Hong Kong residents who hold British citizenship under earlier legislation have no such automatic right to British citizenship for their families. This creates an anomalous and indeed unjust situation, which affects some 90 families, including nearly 140 minors. It is because my Consultancy is acting in an advisory capacity with regard to two of the latter - Carina Kwok, aged 17, and Joanna Kwok, aged 151⁄2 - that I am directly involved; however, it does seem to me that the problem is sufficiently far-reaching to demand early action on the part of HMG.
Home Office officials tell me that they have presented to Ministers a case for reviewing current policy, with particular regard to the position of minors born in Hong Kong. I furthermore understand that the matter is currently under discussion between Home Office and FCO Ministers.
I have no doubt that a letter from you to the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary would be timely and effective in persuading Ministers of the need to grapple with this issue speedily, humanely and, above all, justly. If you felt able to intervene
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