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left Hong Kong permanently and have the right of abode
elsewhere, the right of abode in Hong Kong from 1 July 1997
and the Order in Council gives all Hong Kong BDTCs the
right to register as BN(0)s. But during the debates last
year and during the passage of the Hong Kong Bill a number
of members were concerned that those British Dependent
Territories citizens in Hong Kong who were not ethnically
Chinese, and their children, might be left stateless in 1997
because they would not be regarded as Chinese nationals. The
Government recognised that concern and gave a firm under-
taking that no former Hong Kong British Dependent Territories
citizen, nor any child born after June 1997 to such a person,
would remain stateless as a result of the agreement. In
response to further representations from a number of quarters
this undertaking was extended during the Committee State
of the Bill in another place to cover the grandchildren
of former Hong Kong British Dependent Territories citizens
if they were born stateless.
Our present proposals are set out in Article 6. It provides that
any former Hong Kong British Dependent Territories citizen
who for any reason has not acquired the BN (0) status to
which he is entitled and would otherwise be stateless in
1997, will automatically become a British Overseas citizen
on 1 July 1997. Any of their children born after June 1997
if they would otherwise be stateless will also acquire
/British
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