TNAG-1386-FCO40-1834-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-and-citizenship-1985 — Page 51

authorities to show why they should not be. This policy exclu many Hong Kong residents from an effective nationality and leaves them as permanent second-class citizens in their home country. The criteria for naturalisation in Hong Kong should therefore be relaxed so as to operate in the same way as intended by Parliament and as carried out in Britain.

However, many Hong Kong Chinese do not want any form of British nationality: such a step would imply a rejection of their Chinese identity. Yet they do want Britain to help them secure a recognised nationality status in Hong Kong, which reflects the fact that they are nationals of China. It was therefore suggested that the Joint Liaison Group of British and Chinese officials should explore ways of making Chinese papers and travel documents available to those in Hong Kong who wish to use them during the transitional period, in the same way that British National (Overseas) passports will be available before 1997.

THE REFUGEES

There are at present nearly 11,000 refugees from Indo-China in refugee camps in Hong Kong. Some of them (the earlier arrivals) are in open camps, where they are allowed to work and to move about freely. Others (those who arrived after July 1982) are in closed camps, policed by the prison department. None of the refugees in open or closed camps are officially landed in Hong Kong: they therefore have no immigration status there and no right to live in Hong Kong under the Agreement with China. A majority of them (3/5 of those in open camps and the vast majority of those in closed camps) are ethnic Vietnamese, who are viewed with some hostility by ethnic Chinese.

The rate of resettlement from the camps has been falling - from over 37,000 in 1980 to only 1,843 in the first seven months of 1985. Britain in particular has recently taken little responsibility for resettlement from Hong Kong - only 88 refugees were accepted in 1984 (2.4% of those resettled) and only 4 in the first seven months of 1985. Though the British government has recently announced that it will accept 500 refugees, these are all close relatives of those already settled in Britain, not a new resettlement commitment. Resettlement to other countries is often of the best-qualified recent arrivals; there are therefore many people who have now lived in refugee camps for five years or more.

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