E.R.
British Dependent Territories citizens who will be entitled to
become BN(0)s and will have the right to abode in Hong Kong.
Furthermore, the Hong Kong Act does not allow us to use the Order
to grant British citizenship to those British Dependent
Territories citizens who have another nationality, and do not
therefore risk statelessness; nor to those who are not British
Dependent Territories citizens, even if we thought it right to
do so.
We will of course consider any individual application made under
section 4(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981 on the grounds
of Crown service under the Government of Hong Kong. But I would
remind your Lordships that the Government made it clear during
the passage of the 1981 Bill that the discretion under this
section would be used very sparingly, and that the key factor
in each case would be the quality of service. I cannot predict
what the outcome of any application might be, but we should have
to look at each one in the light of this criterion. I should
also add that this section cannot apply to persons who were in
service under the Government of the United Kingdom, which may be
the case for a number of these former servicemen.
The Government believe, therefore, that the provisions in Article 6,
together with the agreement, constitute the most satisfactory,
reliable and fair way of providing the people of Hong Kong with
what they want; that is to say British nationality and the right
to continue to live and work in Hong Kong. The Government have
also made it plain that if any British national were forced to
leave Hong Kong and had nowhere else to go, we would expect the
Government of the day to consider sympathetically whether to
admit them on a case by case basis in the light of their par-
ticular circumstances. But our minds are not closed, and I shall
listen carefully to your Lordships views in these matters.
/My Lords,
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.