TNAG-2185-FCO40-3122-Ethnic-minorities-in-Hong-Kong-1990 — Page 183

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

Ms Sarah Rae

Hong kong Bill Unit Home Office

Room 1444

Lunar House

Croydon

Dear Jurah.

1.

Telephone 01-

pa on Inden fil

Pa

CD 340/2

RECEIVED IN REG9reference

07 MAR 1990

uf feference

DESK OFFICER INDEX

PADate

L

H26/2

fer

26 February 1990

Thank you for copying to me the letter from Bernard Braine MP of 12 February to the Home Secretary about the non Chinese ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, mainly the Indians.

2. I enclose a copy of our standard letter on this issue which you may like to use The other point that Mr Braine raises is not so easy.

3. The simple reply is no we have not approached the Indian Government up to now. For your own information our High Commission in Delhi advised against raising this. They thought that the Indian Government would be unlikely to help in any case, and that we might just provoke them into rehearsing their criticism of our East African Asian quota system. It is also relevant that the Hong Kong Indian community would probably not welcome such a move by us.

4.

I suggest that you simply say we do not think it necessary to involve the Indian Government at this time as we have already given the Hong Kong Indian community various assurances to consider their case sympathetically if against all expectations they come under pressure to leave Hong Kong in the future (as mentioned in the standard reply attached). They will also be able to apply under the main Nationality Scheme.

FAYAMZ

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JK Hague