Dependent Territory citizens at the time of transfer in
1997, with British Overseas citizenship if they would
otherwise be stateless.
We have on many occasions given an assurance that if any solely British national, with no claim to Chinese
nationality, came under severe pressure to leave Hong
Kong, the Government of the day would be expected to consider with particular sympathy their case for admission
to the UK. That assurance has been repeated on several
occasions during Parliament's consideration of the Bill.
For these reasons it is unnecessary to make provision in the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Bill of the kind you propose. Members of the Eurasian community who meet the
eligibility criteria will of course be able to apply under the Bill in the same way as other people resident in Hong
Kong. The position of those who do not qualify for British citizenship under these arrangements will depend upon their nationality and individual circumstances. We
recognise that members of the Eurasian community may well
be unclear about what their position will be and this uncertainty inevitably causes concern. We shall discuss this with the Chinese authorities to see if they can
clarify the position and if there is anything more that
either they or we can do to reassure the Eurasian
community that their future is secure.
Finally with reference to the final paragraph of your letter, I do not think it helps to try to make comparisons
between the different nationality laws and immigration rules of other countries; the formulation of nationality
law is the responsibility of each individual country and
may be based on very different historical factors.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.