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Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
6 February 1990
From The Minister of State
The Hon Francis Maude MP
The Rt Hon Dr David Owen MP
House of Commons
London SW1A OAA
la
нко з кол
3401
RECEIVED IN BEGISTRY
1 8 JUN 1990
12/2
ни
HK Indians file.
DESI
INDEX
CER
PA
REGISTRY
Action Taken
Де
Den Dead
Thank you for your letter of 27 November to about the non-Chinese ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.
We have taken very careful note of all the representations on this issue. In reaching the decision which was announced to the House on 20 December, we took fully into account the various arguments put to us on behalf of the non-ethnic Chinese minorities. We concluded that we could not treat this group as a special category within the scheme: the non-ethnic Chinese minorities will be eligible to apply for British citizenship under the scheme and each application will be treated on its merits.
As you know, in recognition of the particular concern of the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, the Government have already taken steps to reassure them about their position after 1997. We have made provision for the children and grandchildren of former BDTCs born after 1997 to acquire British Overseas Citizenship if they would otherwise be stateless. And we have also given a specific assurance in Parliament that if, against all expectations, the ethnic minorities came under pressure to leave Hong Kong in the future, and had nowhere to go, we would expect the Government of the day to consider their case for admission here with considerable and particular sympathy. We stand by that undertaking.
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