TNAG-2629-FCO40-3820-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-British-National-(Overseas)-1992 — Page 76

· E.R.

Rerocity

15. Provided particular areas of activity such as volunteering, au pairs and

agricultural workers, where reciprocity is less practicable, were not to be incorporated

into a new youth mobility scheme we could retain the essential features of a working

holiday scheme and place a strong emphasis on requiring reciprocity. From the view of

immigration control and protection of the job market, any reciprocal arrangement

should be entered into with another country only where there was a realistic prospect

of a two-way flow of labour with equal degrees of access into each other's labour

market. From this point of view it does not matter whether the arrangement is based

on a working holidaymaker scheme or the more controlled TWES. Both could be offered

to other countries as models of equal value. TWES could be offered either in addition

to a working holiday scheme, or as an alternative means of exchange where a working

holiday scheme was not viable.

16. One of the main difficulties with such an approach is not how it would affect our

dealings with non-Commonwealth countries so much as our dealings with the "new

Commonwealth". It is likely that we would initially have to ask for reciprocity from

all Commonwealth countries. Whatever the benefits of TWES, a working holidaymaker

scheme might be seen as a symbol of equal treatment with countries such as Australia,

Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA those most likely to be able to offer

full reciprocity on working holidays. Ministers would need to be wary of the charge of making any revised working holiday scheme a "whites-only scheme". Four approaches

suggest themselves:

1)

we could decide that the Commonwealth is a special case and

operate a youth mobility scheme for Commonwealth countries without demanding reciprocity although trying to persuade all Commonwealth

countries to move in this direction;

ii) if there is no prospect of reciprocity in terms of open access to the

labour market we could offer the country a bilateral agreement under

TWES;