HONG KONG NATIONALITY ISSUES
THE ETHNIC MINORITY COMMUNITY
1.
LegCo members have argued for some time for British Citizenship for Hong Kong residents who are not of Chinese race and who have solely British nationality. There are about 7,000 people in this group: mostly of Indian descent. There were debates in LegCo on this subject last November and in March.
2.
Parliament specifically considered the position of this community during the passage of the British Nationality Hong Kong Act, 1990 (BNHKA). It was decided after full consideration that there was no case for special treatment. The right of abode of this community in Hong Kong is secure and protected under both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. Those who wish to retain British nationality after 1997 can register as British Nationals (Overseas) (BNOs). Although this status cannot be passed on to subsequent generations, neither the children nor the grandchildren of this community will be stateless (they can apply for British Overseas Citizen status BOC).
Members of this community would continue to enjoy as BNOS or BOCS consular protection in the future worldwide, including in the future SAR.
3.
4. The British Government stands by its undertaking to consider with particular sympathy the case for admitting members of this community to the United Kingdom if, contrary to expectation, they were in future to come under severe pressure to leave Hong Kong and had nowhere else to go.
5.
Members of the ethnic community are free to compete on the same basis as any other BDTC in the British Nationality Scheme established by the BNHKA to give British citizenship to 50,000 key people in the private and public sectors in Hong Kong (and to their spouses and dependents). Records are not compiled on the ethnic background of applicants, so it is not possible to give an assessment of how many have benefited under the scheme, but a rough check by the Hong Kong Government (on the basis of surnames) indicates that the ethnic community are taking advantage of this avenue to British citizenship.
note.britnat.NAT
JEB