TNAG-1392-FCO40-1864-Future-of-Hong-Kong-briefing-for-meetings-and-visits-1985 — Page 148

17

Provisions for Reducing Statelessness

24.

Article 6 sets out the provisions proposed

during the debates on the Hong Kong Bill for avoiding

or reducing statelessness. The underlying principle

is that no-one who loses his BDTC status as a result

of the Order (hereafter 'former BDTC') or any child

born on or after 1 July 1997 to such a person, should

be stateless as a result of the Joint Declaration.

This principle was extended in the committee stage of

the Hong Kong Bill in the House of Lords to the

grandchildren of former BDTCs if they are born

stateless (Footnote 3: Official Report: Volume 461,

Number 60, Columns 237 and 238). The provisions in

respect of these grandchildren parallel those of

section 17 (2) and (3) of the British Nationality Act

1981. These provide that a child born stateless

outside the dependent territories is entitled to be

registered as a BDTC if an application is made within

12 months of the birth and if:

a)

his or her mother or father ('the

parent in question') was a BDTC by

descent at the time of the birth and