Foreign & Commonwealth Office
London SWIA 2AH
21 December 1993
Paul Murphy Esq MP House of Commons London
SW1 OAA
MUCD
340/8
RECEIVER INC.
22 DEC 1993
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from The Minister of State
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Thank you for your letter of 13 December to Douglas Hurd, enclosing another from Mr Brian Maurice of Gwent County Council, who is concerned about the refusal of the British Government to grant British passports to the widows of Hong Kong servicemen who lost their lives in the service of the
crown.
(70)
I can well understand Councillor Maurice's feelings about the widows, and in particular Doris Kotwall, whose husbands bravely served and died in the defence of Hong Kong during the Second World War. Those men made a heroic contribution to Hong Kong. I am sure that this is not ignored in this country.
The
The question of British citizenship for this small group of ladies has been very carefully considered by Ministers. problem is that there is no provision in our nationality law to grant British citizenship to a person who is not resident in the United Kingdom. So we do not have the power to grant what they are asking for. But assurances have been given by Ministers that these ladies could settle in the United Kingdom at any time and apply for British citizenship in the normal way. We have also done all we can to ensure that if any of these ladies want to apply for entry clearance to the United Kingdom, their applications can be processed very quickly.
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ALISTAIR GOODLAD