Members of the Indian community want the Government to revise its estimate of the number of people from ethnic minorities who will become stateless after the transfer of sovereignty. Community leaders lobbying for full British passports for minority residents have argued that the true number is much lower than the 8,009 figure calculated by immigration officials in July. 'We are trying to get a more accurate figure to reflect the true number of ethnic permanent residents who don't have a second nationality,' said Mohan Chugani, the vice-chairman of the Indian Resources Group. 'Though the July figure was acceptable, a lower figure would make it easier to argue our case against British politicians in fear of an immigrant flood.' Members of the group will meet today to draw up proposals to reduce the 8,009 figure. Their suggestions will be forwarded to Security Branch officials. In a meeting late last month between Branch officials and the Indian group, it is understood the Government indicated it was prepared to revise the 8,009 figure. Officials have acknowledged there could be significant inaccuracy in the method of counting, based on the Immigration Department's Registration of Persons' records, because individuals are not required to declare their second nationality in the records. However, a Security Branch spokesman said there was 'no plan to conduct a second counting or to fine-tune the available estimates'. In the July survey, Indian residents made up 40 per cent of the 8,009 ethnic population, followed by Pakistanis at 18 per cent. The rest originated from countries around the world, including the Philippines and Malaysia. The Government has warned the figure could include as many as 3,424 who could already be nationals of other countries, such as the United States.
