TNAG-1618-FCO40-2226-Executive-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-meet-1987 — Page 168

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6

in

(d)

(a

and

"resident United Kingdom belongers" very small number of foreign nationals married to British citizens, certain of their children, who had at any time been ordinarily resident in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 7 years).

The term "right of abode" is generally understood to include the right to enter and remain one's country and to be free from deportation. "Hong Kong belongers" (category [a] in paragraph 5 above) have under the Immigration Ordinance the following rights and freedoms which give them the equivalent of "right of abode"

7

(a) the right to land (section 8[1]);

(b) freedom from conditions of stay

(section 8[2]);

(c)

freedom from removal (section 19[2]); and

(d) freedom from deportation (section 20).

"Chinese residents" (category [b]) have the first three rights and freedoms but are subject to deportation if found guilty of any offence punishable with imprisonment for not less than two

than two years or

or if

the Governor in Council deems it to be conducive to the public good either on the recommendation of a Court or after considering a report from the Deportation Tribunal or when the Governor certifies that the case concerns the security of Hong Kong or the relations of HMG with another country (sections 20[2] and [3]). "Resident British citizens" (category [c] and "resident United Kingdom belongers" (category [d]) also have the first three rights and freedoms but are subject to deportation if the Governor in Council deems it to be conducive to the public good in the interests of the security of Hong Kong or for political reasons affecting the relations of HMG with another country (section 20[4]).

Argument

8

Although the term "right of abode" is not used in the Immigration Ordinance, the concept is there in that "Hong Kong belongers", with the right to land and remain in Hong Kong free of conditions of stay, freedom from removal and freedom from deportation, have the equivalent of the right of abode as the term is generally understood to mean.

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