50,000 key people in the private and public sectors of Hong Kong without their having to leave Hong Kong. Some have already done so and are benefiting under the scheme.
What happens in a "worst case scenario"?
Government Ministers have given assurances, most recently in the House of Lords on 15 July, that if, against all expectations, members of the non-Chinese ethnic community with solely British nationality ever come under pressure to leave Hong Kong after 1997 and have nowhere else to go, the government of the day would consider with particular sympathy any request for admission to the UK.
Is there not a risk that some members of the ethnic community will become stateless post 1997 ?
-
- No one from this community will become stateless they will all retain a form of British nationality after 1997 (either BN (0) or BOC). Neither will their children nor their grandchildren be stateless. The Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986 specifically provides for the children of BDTCs will have BOC status if they would otherwise be stateless. The grandchildren of the original BDTCs will in most cases have an entitlement to acquire BOC status by registration (again, if they would otherwise be stateless).
Why do these assurances not apply to the wider Hong Kong population?
The assurances have always been directed to those who will hold only British nationality after 1997. The ethnic Chinese will by definition not be in this position.
brief.legco.8B
SLM
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.