5
4.4
4.5
4.6
stateless (see the Editorial in the South China Morning Post dated 19th
November, 1992). This matter is further elaborated in section 5 below.
It was, and is widely acknowledged that the British Government has a Moral
Responsibility for the affected ethnic minorities. The contribution of these
ethnic minorities and that of their fore-fathers to the growth and success of
Hong Kong cannot be over-stated and neither can the unquestioning loyalty that
these people have shown to the Crown. They gave loyalty at the expense of
personal ties to their countries of origin. Many of the younger generation speak
English as their first language and many have studied in the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom's fulfillment of its moral obligation to the people of
Gibraltar and the Falklands was the grant of full British citizenship. This was
granted even when the numbers in Gibraltar far exceed those affected minorities
in Hong Kong, suggesting that refusal in this case is racially motivated.
The British Government also has a Legal Responsibility to ensure these
affected minorities will not become stateless after the transfer of sovereignty
(see Article 10 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness).
Although the British Government insists that the BNO or BOC status avoids
statelessness, as a matter of international law it does not. An essential attribute
of nationality is the right of a national to enter the State of conferring
nationality. This duty of admission of nationals is a well-recognized principle
in international law. Furthermore, the right to enter one's own country of
nationality is a human right. This right is "a part of conventional international
law as well as one of the general principles of civilized nations." (see United
Nations, The Right of Everyone to Leave any Country, including his own, and
to return to his own, and to return to his country, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1988/15). The
International Commission of Jurists concluded that the affected minorities will
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