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Wednesday, July 21, 1971
Mr. Sneath said that in considering the law on immigration it was
important to keep in mind it had always been accepted that every country
had an absolute right to refuse admission to and expel any alien; and to
do so arbitrarily.
He referred to the "consistent tightening up of the rules concerning
entry and stay of Commonwealth citizens into the United Kingdom" over the
past decade, and said: "I am sure that Honourable members would agree
that we should be failing in our duty to ourselves if we did not see to it
that our law enabled Hong Kong to have a similar measure of protection."
Powers
If this protection was to be effective adequate powers must be
given in the legislation, the Attorney General said. For example, it was
no good putting a case to the Governor in Council to consider whether a
deportation order should be made, if, in the meantime, the person concerned
had disappeared in our teeming city.
The Bill consequently conferred powers similar to those now in
existence to detain persons whilst decisions were being takon as to whether
they should be ordered to be removed or deported.
The Attorney General said: he mentioned this power in particular;
not because it was anything novel in the Bill, but because he would be moving
two amendments at the Committee Stage to provide definite limits to the
periods during which a person may be detained on those circumstances.
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