WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1992
SPEECH BY S FOR S ON NATIONALITY OF ETHNIC MINORITIES
FOLLOWING IS THE TRANSCRIPT OF A SPEECH BY THE ACTING SECRETARY DEBATE ON FOR SECURITY, MR IAN STRACHAN, WHEN WINDING UP THE MOTION ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TONIGHT (WEDNESDAY):
MR DEPUTY PRESIDENT,
BEEN A ΤΟ
OPPORTUNITY
SUCH
I WELCOME THIS DEBATE FOR TWO REASONS. FIRST, IT HAS
DEBATE. SECONDLY, WELL-INFORMED
IT ALLOWS ME THE ON BEHALF ACKNOWLEDGE
OF THE
THE GOVERNMENT
VERY SUBSTANTIAL
CONTRIBUTION WHICH
HONG KONG'S THE ETHNIC MINORITIES HAVE MADE TO ECONOMIC PROSPERITY. I AM THINKING PARTICULARLY OF ORGANISATIONS AS THE INDIAN RESOURCES GROUP. THAT CONTRIBUTION HAS BEEN AND OUT OF PROPORTION TO THEIR NUMBERS THAT MR MCGREGOR HAS SAID.
AND HAVE LONG BEEN
THAT CONCERNED
THEIR GRATEFUL TO THEM SECURITY AND PLACE IN HONG KONG IS ASSURED.
REMAINS
WE
ARE FUTURE
ETHNIC
то MAKE FACTS. TO RESIDENTS
WE NEED ΤΟ REMIND OURSELVES, HOWEVER, THAT THE MINORITIES LIKE MANY OTHER NON-CHINESE CITIZENS HAVE CHOSEN HONG KONG AND NOT THE UK THEIR HOME. LET ME NOW GIVE SOME THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE, SOME 20,000 LONG-TERM HONG KONG BELONG
OF INDIA AND TO
MOST ARE NATIONALS THE ETHNIC MINORITIES. PAKISTAN AND HOLD PASSPORTS FROM THOSE COUNTRIES. AT A ROUGH ESTIMATE ABOUT AND HERE MY FIGURE IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TO MR HOWARD YOUNG'S, 7,000 ARE EITHER HONG KONG BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORIES CITIZENS OR WHICH ASSURE BOTH GROUPS HOLD PASSPORTS BRITISH OVERSEAS CITIZENS.
ADDITIONALLY, A VERY OF BRITISH CONSULAR PROTECTION WORLDWIDE. THEM
100 ABOUT
ARE SMALL NUMBER AND WE BELIEVED THIS NUMBER TO BE ONLY
ARE TECHNICALLY STATELESS. UNDER THE BASIC LAW, ARTICLE 24 (4), THEY GUARANTEED THE RIGHT OF ABODE THAT IS, THE RIGHT TO ENTER AND NOT TO BE DEPORTED FROM HONG KONG AFTER 1997.
TO SECURE THOSE WHO WISH THAT RIGHT BEFORE 1997 MAY DO SO BY BECOMING BDTCS. THUS, THIS DEBATE CONCERNS PERHAPS 7,000 TO 8,000 PEOPLE.
DURING THE
(BNS). NOW
-
HAS
QUESTION SCHEME HAVE
SOME MEMBERS HAVE GIVEN THE IMPRESSION THAT THE GOVERNMENT
WE HAVE NOT CAREFULLY EXAMINED THE POSITION OF THE ETHNIC MINORITIES.
DECLARATION AND SO. WE DID SO DURING THE DRAFTING OF THE JOINT DONE THE BASIC LAW, AND, IN 1990, UK MINISTERS RECONSIDERED THE
BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE ON THE
NATIONALITY THEY CONCLUDED AND IN PREPARING FOR TODAY'S DEBATE WE ESTABLISHED THAT THIS REMAINS THEIR VIEW - THAT THE NON-CHINESE ETHNIC MINORITIES' POSITION AFTER 1997 IS ADEQUATELY PROTECTED BOTH IN THE JOINT DECLARATION AND IN THE BASIC LAW WHICH GUARANTEE THEM OF ABODE IN THE HONG KONG SAR. IN ADDITION, THE HONG KONG NATIONALITY) ORDER 1986 ENSHRINES THE CATEGORICAL ASSURANCE THAT CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE ETHNIC WHO ARE BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORY CITIZENS PRIOR TO 1 JULY 1997 WILL
BRITISH HAVE
OVERSEAS CITIZENSHIP IF THEY WOULD OTHERWISE
STRONGLY STATELESS, CLEARLY,
THAT THEY,
THEREFORE
-
AND I CANNOT STRESS THIS TOO NO MEMBER OF ANY OF THE MINORITY COMMUNITIES NEED FEAR THEIR CHILDREN, OR GRANDCHILDREN WILL BE STATELESS.
RIGHT
THE
(BRITISH
MINORITIES
BE
/NOW, I