TNAG-2974-FCO40-1243-Protection-of-UK-citizens-of-Dependent-Territories-in-the-UK-1981 — Page 3

HKG 231/1

Foreign and Commonwealth Office 4 MAR 1981

London SW1A 2AH

DECK OFFICER

INDax

Telephone 01

ARD

PA

Втор

-Reproly

in 263

(6

Entry Se EN12413

F A Doherty Esq

Deputy Governor's Office HAMILTON

Jws Frank

LAST PAPER

Your reference

Our reference

Date

23 March 1981

PROTECTION OF DEPENDENT TERRITORY CITIZENS

1. You wrote to Consular Department last October about which procedures exist for offering assistance to Bermudians who find themselves in difficulty (such as losing their money) in the UK. Your letter has done the rounds of various Departments and been the subject of much research. It has now fetched up with WIAD for a reply. I am sorry you have had to wait so long.

2. To deal with the simple point in your letter first, Consular Department confirm that UK belongers needing assistance in a dependent territory can be repatriated and that they (Consular Department) receive the bills for the costs of the exercise.

3. Responsibility for assisting dependency citizens in (tempo- rary) distress in the UK is, to say the least, ill defined. According to the DHSS, if a Dependent Territory national comes to the UK to study, immigration officials must be satisfied that the costs of the course will be met and that the student will be able to maintain him/herself. If such a student had to seek financial assistance he would be reminded of his undertaking on entry but the DHSS would pay supplementary benefit for about two weeks until the student had made alternative arrangements (ie to return home or to obtain funds to stay). The same basic principles apply to dependent territory visitors to the UK who are similarly admitted on a basis of being able to support themselves during their stay. Although the DHSS say that the supplementary benefit regulations do not take account of loss of funds through robbery or other misfortune, they confirm that, in such a situation, visitors could also receive about two weeks' assistance to enable other arrangements to be made. For the record, I enclose a DHSS note on repatriation of hospital in-patients.

4. Hong Kong and General Department have provided the enclosed

/note