Council of Hongkong Indian Associations
c/o TST P.O. BOX 95106, HONG KONG
Telex: 43500-HARI-HX Cable "INDCOUNCIL"
Tel: 3-7218844
Member Associations:
THE INDIAN CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
THE HINDU ASSOCIATION
THE INDIA ASSOCIATION THE INDIA CLUB
THE KHALSA DIWAN
THE HONG KONG INDIAN
WOMEN'S CLUB
THE NAV BHARAT CLUB
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Members of our Council have been told on numerous occasions that PRC authorities understand our concerns, and that our claims to British citizenship are well-founded.
Sir Geoffrey Howe and his colleagues at the Foreign Office continue to paint an extremely rosy picture of Hong Kong, portraying a territory which is progressing smoothly towards the 1997 handover. The reality however is quite different, for lurking beneath the glossy surface of a business boom and continuing foreign investment, there are some very real fears and anxieties. Confidence must now be at its lowest point since the Sino-British Agreement was signed, and there exists much doubt about commitment of both countries to making the Joint Declaration, work. There is also considerable anxiety that the Basic Law will ignore many of the promises enshrined in the Joint Declaration, and that the people of Hong Kong will see many of their basic rights and liberities diluted by 1997. People are emigrating in alarming numbers, a drain of capital and skill which will prove detrimental to business and industry. The English language newspapers are filled with daily correspondence from readers concerned that their fundamental rights have been, and will continue to be, abrogated. We enclose as evidence many such letters which have appeared in recent editions of the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Standard.
The onus is therefore on Britain to restore confidence here. HMG must demand that the promises contained in the Joint Declaration be abided by.
The Basic Law in its present draft form is so vague as to render it meaningless, and HMG must insist that it be improved significantly to reflect the spirit of the original Agreement. A case in point is Article 24 of the Draft Basic Law, which defines who the permanent residents of the future Hong Kong SAR shall be. In this Article the definition covering foreigners is so ambiguous that it could easily be misinterpreted to the detriment of someone hoping to obtain permanent residency rights here. We wrote to the Basic Law Consultative Committee on this point last year, but it continues to appear in the Final Draft unamended. It is imperative that the rights of all ethnic minorities whatever their nationality, be more clearly defined in the laws of the SAR.
More importantly, Britain must act on the Nationality issue, and it must act to protect those who are most vulnerable. British Nationality and Immigration Law is replete with special cases: the case of the Falkland Islanders; the case of the inhabitants of Gibraltar; the case of the Asian victims of Africanisation. The minorities must also be considered a special case as they will not enjoy equal status with the ethnic Chinese in the future Hong Kong SAR.
President: MR. H. N. HARILELA, OBE JP
Vice President: MR. K. SITAL, jp- Chairman Tel: 5-222852
Hon. Secretary: MR. K. B. RATHI Hon. Treasurer: MR. J. MULCHAND
MR. S. A. AMEEN MRS. KAMLA KAPAHI MR. G. B. MAHBUBANI MR. LACHMAN NARAIN
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