CAB129-45 — Page 412

CITIZENSHIP

Page 412

The law of Southern Rhodesia makes provision for persons born there, &c., to be citizens of Southern Rhodesia. Under the British Nationality Act, 1948, these citizens are British subjects. Since Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland are Protectorates persons born there are not ipso facto British subjects, but British-protected persons, although they can apply for naturalisation as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (and thereby become British subjects) by virtue of residence in the Protectorates. These differences introduce com- plexities in providing for a single effective citizenship of the proposed new federation of British Central Africa. It would be possible for a federal law to establish such a citizenship, and this would probably be useful for practical purposes and would help to instil a sense of solidarity and of loyalty to British Central Africa as a whole, but according to the principles which govern British nationality at present such a law could not make these citizens British subjects as well. The result would be to impose a second citizenship on citizens of Southern Rhodesia, but there is no harm in this. There is a precedent in the Federation of Malaya where a person born in Penang or Malacca (which are part of His Majesty's dominions) may be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, a British subject, and a citizen of Malaya; and a person born in a Malay State a citizen of Malaya, and a British-protected person. This is not a pressing problem, and further consideration might be given to it later; but the federal Legislature should be given power to enact a citizenship law if this is ultimately decided to be desirable, and in that case citizenship should be added to the list of federal subjects.

་

43

40409 wPage 452Fo£.587

Page 4f58 BRITAIN

7