British Nationality Order 1993
[BARONESS DUNN]
[LORDS]
then Home Secretary in another place-pledges that were made to all British dependent territory citizens in Hong Kong, not just the small ethnic minority. Hong Kong British dependent territory citizens attached great importance to those undertakings, as I did. Today, there is alarm and resentment that not only is there no solution to the problem of the ethnic minority but that Her Majesty's Government are backtracking on undertakings given to all British dependent territory citizens.
But we have not yet despaired of the enduring values on which Britain prides itself. We still hope for an honourable and just solution. We expect fair treatment by the British Crown for British subjects. It is a tribute to the way in which British values have taken root in Hong Kong's soil that the predominant- ly Chinese population do not begrudge special treatment for the ethnic minority. Successive legislatures have been united in pressing their case.
By granting full British citizenship to that small group of vulnerable and deserving British nationals, there can be no clearer signal given to the people of Hong Kong that Britain understands the unique complexities of Hong Kong's situation. There can be no better example that Britain takes the moral stance not only on large matters but on small ones, too. There can be no firmer commitment that Britain has the will and the determination to do right by its subjects in Hong Kong.
Yesterday in this House I listened to impassioned speeches about the right of people to choose their future and the duty of elected representatives of the people to exercise their judgment in the best interests of the people. It was a poignant reminder to me that the people of Hong Kong had neither the right to choose their future nor the right to elect those who decide their destiny. Their fate on so many important issues affecting their fundamental rights and freedoms has been decided without their say.
I am privileged to be able to plead in this House the case of the minority. This House is renowned for its compassion and humanity, its independence and fairness. My Lords, do not deny their trust. I urge your Lordships to support their case.
7.5 p.m.
Lord Glenarthur: My Lords, my main reason for wishing to take part in this debate this evening is that the current commitment by Her Majesty's Government to non-ethnic Chinese British dependent territory citizens and their admission to this country was written in words drafted by me and given to your Lordships on 16th May 1986 when I moved that the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986 be agreed to.
In those days I was at least in part in the shoes that my noble friend Lord Ferrers finds himself wearing this evening. Subsequently I had to live with that commitment, as the Minister responsible for Hong Kong. Indeed, as I am sure both the noble Baroness, Lady Dunn, and the noble Lord, Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, will recall, those words were played back to me at fairly regular intervals. I have to say that my
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experience of Hong Kong both over the period in which I had that responsibility and subsequently has somewhat coloured my opinion. What I said on that occasion in 1986 was that I would go further than assurances given before. I said that I would:
"go further than the assurances so far given to the community"—
that is the community of non-ethnic Chinese BDTCs
"by this Government by saying that we should consider it an obligation upon any future government to treat with very considerable and particular sympathy the case for admission to the United Kingdom of any individual British national who, against all our present expectations, came under pressure to leave Hong Kong”.—{Official Report, 16/5/86; col. 1437.]
I well understand and appreciate the sentiments expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter. But the commitment that I gave, in the face of considerable pressure, as some of your Lordships will recall, to do something of that kind from all sides of the House to meet similar, if not precisely the same, concerns as those expressed this evening, was a considerable one.
It was a commitment of unusual proportions. To place an obligation on future governments of any party and have it accepted, is going a great deal further than usually can be thought of as satisfactory or mutually agreed. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos, to whom the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh of Haringey, referred, expressed concern at the original 1986 order. He went so far as to say at that time that the word "obligation" was crucial. He said that his party would honour it and would consider taking other steps as well.
I accept that the mood in Hong Kong has changed since 1986. Tiananmen Square, the slow progress of the JLG talks, about which in 1986 I was able to be quite bullish, the delays in agreeing infrastructural developments and Chinese concerns about the Hong Kong democracy proposals have all changed the climate of opinion in Hong Kong. The 30th June 1997 is less than four years away.
I have to say that I found the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Dunn, this evening extremely convincing. Despite the change in the mood in Hong Kong, there is a case to say that the potential circumstances of non-ethnic Chinese British depen- dent territory citizens has not, at least yet, altered as much as some would claim. Her Majesty's Government have gone a long way toward meeting legitimate concerns about BN(O) passport holders, British dependent territory citizens and others, including Crown servants and ex-servicemen as well as those BDTCs who are not ethnically Chinese and who, as has been explained so well this evening, have no other form of citizenship.
However, we must still consider whether what is proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, would be fair in relation to others; would be effective; would benefit subsequent generations and would secure people's confidence let alone encourage their continual abode in Hong Kong after 1997.
The noble Baroness, Lady Dunn, and the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, make very real points when they say that those concerned would effectively
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