TNAG-1202-FCO40-1504-Policy-on-visas-and-entry-certificates-in-Hong-Kong-1982 — Page 9

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of economic development to some extent justify this differentiation in policy and practice, but the most important reason for it lies in the racial differences which give rise in certain of the Colonies and Protectorates to a great variety of problems which are almost unknown at home. But while we think that it would be going too far to expect the whole Colonial Empire to set itself a United Kingdom standard in this matter, we feel that it is right to start with a definite bias in favour of free admission and against deportation in the case of British subjects. That is to say, a Colony or Protectorate ought to show strong and convincing reasons before it refuses admission to British subjects and before it takes power to deport them. Limiting ourselves for the moment to the question. of admission, we think that, in general, no Colony or Protectorate should refuse admission to a British subject who may be said to belong to the territory. In this category we consider that there should be included a person who—

(a) was born in the Colony or Protectorate concerned or of parents who at the time of his birth were ordinarily resident in that Colony or Protectorate;

(b) has been ordinarily resident in the Colony or Protectorate con- cerned for a period of not less than seven years and has not since the end of that period been ordinarily resident elsewhere in the Empire for a period of seven years or more; or

(c) was naturalized in the Colony or Protectorate concerned.

Categories (a) and (b) should be regarded as including the wife (not divorced or legally separated from her husband) and all categories as including the dependent child, stepchild or adopted child of any such person. The wife of a person within category (c) will herself come within that category provided the necessary enactment is suitably drafted.* We consider further that no Pro- tectorate or Mandated Territory should refuse admission to a British protected person who is a native of the territory.

(The question of what period of ordinary residence in a particular Colony or Protectorate should qualify a person to be regarded as more closely connected with that Colony or Protectorate than with any other part of the Empire was discussed with certain of the Dominion Governments at the time of the Imperial Conference of 1930, but no agreement was reached on the subject. The adoption of seven years' ordinary residence as a criterion was proposed by the United Kingdom Government in 1931 to the Government of the Union of South Africa, but not accepted by the latter, who suggested that the matter should be dis- cussed at the next Imperial Conference. It is clearly a matter which should be determined by agreement between the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Pending such agreement, we have proposed the acceptance, for Colonies and Protectorates, of the criterion recommended by the United Kingdom Government in 1931.)

4. On the other hand, as we shall find it necessary later on in this report to recommend a limitation of the powers of Colonial and Protectorate Govern- ments to deport British subjects, we consider it reasonable that they should have somewhat wide powers to refuse admission to British subjects other than those specified in categories (a), (b) and (c) above. Consequently, in applying our recommendations with regard to deportation, in any particular Colony or Pro- tectorate, it may be necessary to examine the Immigration Law in force with a view to seeing whether it also will require amendment.

CC

5. We consider that as a general principle each Colony or Protectorate should accept responsibility for its own "undesirables" and should not attempt. to use the instrument of deportation as a means of thrusting that responsibility upon some other part of the Empire. A Colony or Protectorate should in our view regard as its own undesirables any persons who "belong to the terri- tory and any other British subject who is not a recent immigrant. To begin with, therefore, we think that persons falling within any of the categories men- tioned in paragraph 3 above should not be liable to deportation. In order to give a definition of the persons who we recommend should be regarded as recent * This report was prepared prior to the enactment of the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act, 1933, which will necessitate some modification of the recommendations made in this paragraph. The necessary amendments have been made in the model draft Ordinance.

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