TNAG-2941-FCO40-4217-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-ethnic-minorities-1993 — Page 9

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Any other avenue open to them to acquire British nationality

other than British Nationality Scheme?

-

Holders of BDTC/BN (0) passports have an entitlement to registration as a British citizen provided they have completed

five years UK residence and have settled status.

What happens in a "worst case scenario"?

Government Ministers have given assurances 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. [This assurance was

restated in the House in the course of an adjournment debate

on 9 July.]

- We see the various arrangements now in place as firm

foundations which will ensure the security of this community

in Hong Kong in the years to come. In short they will enjoy British Nationality, guaranteed right of abode in Hong Kong

and, as I have just indicated, they have the safety net of an

assurance of a sympathetic response to a request to settle in

the UK in the unlikely event that they were to come under

pressure to leave Hong Kong. But it must be the Government's

priority to ensure the future in Hong Kong of all British

passport holders, rather than making special arrangements for

one sector of the community.