Thousands may qualify under UK abode plan
The number of stateless people belonging to ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong, who may become British citizens as a result of an imminent change in an immigration law, may reach into the thousands, the British government says.
This latest estimate by the British Home Office is higher than the original estimate by the politician pushing for changes to the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, which will be put to a vote today in the House of Lords.
Members of the Nepali community in Hong Kong welcomed the Labour government's adoption of the two amendments moved by Lord Avebury, of the Liberal Democrats.
They urged officials to state clearly who would be eligible if the bill was passed.
The South China Morning Post yesterday cited Lord Avebury's estimate of about 1,000 predominantly Nepali people who could benefit from the move. A spokesman for the British consulate said the number would not be too high.
'In practice, only a limited number of people will be eligible under these proposals,' he said. 'The Home Office believes that the numbers are in the thousands, not tens of thousands. Detailed eligibility criteria will be published after the law is passed.'
If the amendments are passed - which is also likely to ensure support in the House of Commons because of the Labour majority, it would end one of what Britain has admitted is a series of 'anomalies' in its immigration policies. Before the handover, about 8,000 British Dependent Territories Citizens (BDTC) - mostly former Gurkhas in the British forces and their descendants - were granted British citizenship.
But some who applied, including those who did not fulfil the requirement of being ordinarily resident in Hong Kong on or before February 4, 1997, were denied citizenship.
They were given British National (Overseas) passports - which carry no right of abode in Britain - after the BDTC passport expired at the handover. They included Nepalis who had renounced their nationality before seeking British citizenship. Being non-Chinese and unable to receive Chinese nationality, they were considered 'stateless' by the British, with some allowed to stay in Hong Kong only at the government's discretion.
Ekraj Rai, chairman of the Hong Kong Minority Communities Association, called on the British government to clarify what he described as a very complex system of immigration regulations that had seen multiple amendments in past years.
Fermi Wong Wai-fun, director of Unison Hong Kong for Ethnic Equality and who works with Nepali groups, said the British government had a moral duty to cater for the rights of those who had previously served it in the colonies.
'The British should clarify who would be eligible as soon as possible,' she said.
