Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
MUD 3.40 18
RECH
3 December 1993
6 DEC 1993
London SWIA 2AH
Telephone: 071-
Mr & Mrs Downey P.O. Box 679 Jwaneng Botswana
51
Your letter of 10 November 1993 to the Prime Minister about British citizenship for the widows of Hong Kong servicemen has been passed to this department for reply.
I understand your feelings towards the widows, whose husbands bravely served in the defence of Hong Kong during the Second World War. Those men made a heroic contribution to Hong Kong. I am sure that this is not ignored in this country.
The question of British citizenship for this small group of ladies has been very carefully considered by Ministers. The problem is that there is no provision in nationality law to grant British citizenship to a person who is not resident in the United Kingdom. Thus, the Government does not have the power to grant what these ladies are asking for. However, assurances have been given by Ministers that these ladies could settle in the United Kingdom at any time and apply for British citizenship in the normal way. The government have also done all they can to ensure that if any of these ladies want to apply for entry clearance to the United Kingdom, their applications can be processed very quickly.
downey.MOPLET
user 9
Mark Gee
Hong Kong Department
57
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