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Careful consideration would be required of the action that we should
take if the regime were to purport to declare a republic; in particular this
would create a very difficult situation for the judiciary in Rhodesia.
guidance proposed by officials for use in the event of such a delcaration required strengthening. There might be advantage in giving ourselves a
wider freedom of action by dropping the commitment not to use force against the regime, should a republic be declared, even though repeated and thorough
examination had shown that invasion was impracticable and any other use of force presented the greatest difficulty. One very real possibility that had to be kept in mind in our consideration of the Rhodesian problem was that we
might at any time be faced with the disruption of the present Government,
and a complete breakdown of law and order in Zambia while the illegal regime
was still in power in Rhodesia.
In further discussion, the Committee considered the proposals by
officials for action against the regime in the field of immigration control
and passports. It was agreed that there would be advantage in taking whatever
measures were practicable in these field to hinder the private and business
contacts of supporters of the regime by placing difficulties in the way of
Rhodesians visiting or leaving the United Kingdom. There were various
possibilities, extending from repudiation of all passports issued in Rhodesia
itself, which would affect only about a quarter of Rhodesians, to measures
which would affect also the majority of residents in Rhodesia who had
United Kingdom or dual citizenship and held United Kingdom passports. It
was not possible however to devise measures which would in practice be
either equitable or all embracing. For example because a passport had been
issued in Salisbury it did not necessarily mean that its holder still had
any connection with Rhodesia: Rhodesian residents did not all enter this
country direct from Rhodesia or even from Africa; and the ease of entry
through the Irish Republic presented a further problem. If any general
attempt were made to refuse Rhodesian residents entry to this country or
to impound their passports this would mean examination by immigration control
of all United Kingdom passports to establish their place of issue, since these
were in other respects identical with those held by Rhodesian residents with United Kingdom citizenship. Although this could be done, it would cape major disruption of the flow of all United Kingdom passengers through
immigration control. Further examination was required to see whether a workable scheme could be devised covering immigration control and passports which would
embarrass the illegal regime without involving intolerable administrative and other consequences for ourselves. It was also agreed that further consideration
should be given to stopping the sale of British television material to
Rhodesia.
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