OR REGISTERED IN A DEPENDENT TERRITORY OTHER THAN HONG KONG, AS SUGGESTED IN PARA 3 OF HILL'S MINUTE. WE ARE NOT (NOT) YET SURE IF WE CAN AGREE TO HILL'S SUGGESTIONS ON THE TREATMENT OF MIXED BDTCS. WE SHALL COMMUNICATE FURTHER WITH YOU ON THIS POINT.
4. WITH REGARD TO STATELESSNESS, WE SHARE THE HOME OFFICE VIEW THAT IT WOULD NOT (NOT) BE APPROPRIATE TO GRANT BRITISH NATIONALITY TO CHILDREN BORN IN HONG KONG AFTER 1 JULY 1997 TO PARENTS WHO WERE NEITHER BRITISH NOR CHINESE, DUT WHO COULD NOT TRANSMIT THEIR THIRD-COUNTRY NATIONALITY TO THEIR CHILDREN. THESE CHILDREN WOULD BE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR CHINESE NATIONALITY AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH CHINESE NATIONALITY LAW SHOULD GET IT PROVIDED THAT THEY OR THEIR PARENTS HAVE SETTLED IN SAR. EVEN IF THEY DO NOT ACQUIRE CHINESE OR OTHER NATIONALITY, THEY WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT OF ABODE IN THE HK SAR IF THEY HAVE ORDINARILY RESIDED IN HONG KONG FOR A CONTINUOUS PERIOD OF 7 YEARS OR MORE AND HAVE TAKEN HONG KONG AS THEIR PLACE OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE, AND WOULD BE ABLE TO TRAVEL ON SAR TRAVEL DOCUMENTS.
5. WE ARE HOWEVER CONCERNED ABOUT CHILDREN BORN BEFORE 1 JULY 1997, SAY IN 1995, TO PARENTS WHO WERE NEITHER BRITISH NOR CHINESE BUT WHO COULD NOT TRANSMIT THEIR THIRD-COUNTRY NATIONALITY TO THEIR CHILDREN. WERE HONG KONG TO REMAIN A DEPENDENT TERRITORY AFTER 1997, THESE CHILDREN WOULD IN DUE COURSE BE ENTITLED TO APPLY TO BE REGISTERED AS BDTCS UNDER SECTION 15(4) OF THE BNA 1981. IT WOULD APPEAR THAT, BY VIRTUE OF THE AGREEMENT, THESE CHILDREN WILL BE DEPRIVED OF THIS ENTITLEMENT, AND WILL BECOME STATELESS. A SIMILAR POINT ARISES IN RELATION TO STATELESS CHILDREN BORN IN HONG KONG BEFORE 1 JULY 1997 AND TO WHOM PARAGRAPH 3 OF SCHEDULE 2 TO THE BNA 1981 APPLIES. THESE CHILDREN TOO WILL, BY VIRTUE OF THE AGREEMENT, BE DEPRIVED OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACQUIRE BRITISH NATIONALITY AND SO WILL REMAIN STATELESS. THERE WOULD SEEM TO BE STRONG GROUNDS FOR AMENDING THE PROVISIONS FOR REDUCING STATE- LESSNESS SO AS TO INCLUDE SUCH CHILDREN 30RN BEFORE 1997. WE
SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR COMMENTS.
6. OUR COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT ORDER-IN-COUNCIL (AT OFFICIAL LEVEL
ONLY) ARE
(A) ARTICLE 2 SEE PARAS 1 TO 3 ABOVE:
-
(B) ARTICLE 3(1) WE ARE CONCERNED THAT THE STARK REFERENCE TO
REGISTRATION FOR BN (0) STATUS COULD GIVE RISE TO THE SORT OF ADVERSE REACTION FROM HK BDTCS TO THE APPARENT NEED FOR REGISTRATION THAT WE HAVE SOUGHT TO AVOID (OUR TELNOS 3444, 3488 AND 3668 OF 1984 REFER). IN YOUR TELNOS 2482 AND 2494, TO MEET OUR POINT ABOUT THE LIKELIHOOD OF ADVERSE REACTION FROM HK BDTCS, YOU HAVE AGREED TO SUBSUME APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION AS A BN (0) IN THE APPLICATION FOR A PASSPORT
2
CONFIDENTIAL
RECORDING
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