§ 3.8 p.m.
§ LORD SORENSENMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government, whether the anxieties of Indian residents in Kenya who hold British passports have now been allayed; whether they continue without hindrance to follow their professions or avocations; and to what extent applications by Kenyan Indians to settle in the United Kingdom are beyond the restricted allocation for this year.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS (LORD SHEPHERD)My Lords, the relatively 1543 small number of applications from British citizens of Asian origin who are subject to control under the 1968 Immigration Act for permission to settle in Britain suggests an easing of the anxiety on the part of the Asian community about their immediate future. The Kenya Government are continuing to implement, with moderation, their policy of Kenyanisation, which means that when they are able to replace non-citizens with suitably qualified citizens of Kenya, they will do so. Meanwhile, those non-citizens, whether of Asian origin or otherwise, who cannot yet be replaced may continue in their present jobs.
Between March 1 and June 15 this year there were 750 applications for vouchers to settle in Britain, many from people who did not wish to travel in the near future. Of that number, 318 applicants were offered immediate vouchers, but up to June 15 only 194 had called to collect them. These numbers are well within the allocation for this year.
§ LORD SORENSENMy Lords, while thanking my noble friend for that very comprehensive reply, which will give some encouragement, I am sure, to those interested in Asians in Kenya, may I further ask whether in his view this means that the Government of Kenya is fully sympathetic to the plight of Asians in Kenya; that they are not likely to make their policy more intense, and that in fact we can now say on the whole there has been an allaying of the grievances they previously felt?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I think my noble friend is quite correct in this matter. Residents' permits are being granted liberally for up to two years in certain categories of workers, and it would appear that it will be some considerable time before those who might be called in into higher positions or higher grades will be affected by the existing legislation.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, while welcoming the fact that this position has eased, may I ask my noble friend whether it is not a fact that a large number of Kenya Asians have returned to India and that the Indian Government began by indicating that it would not accept those with British passports? Have there been any discussions with the Indian Govern- 1544 ment, and has any agreement been reached on this matter?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, as my noble friend is aware, there have been discussions with the Indian authorities. I understand that some 1,500 persons of Kenya Asian origin have returned to India, and we have no reason to believe that they will not be permitted to remain in that country.
§ BARONESS LLEWELYN-DAVIES OF HASTOEMy Lords, since the allocation quota has not been taken up, and since some of the places allocated have not so far been taken up either, might it not have been better if the hasty and distasteful legislation brought in had not been brought in at all?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the noble Baroness is entitled to re-express her view upon recent legislation but if she will look at the Answer I gave she will see that the number of applications, some 750—roughly 50 per cent. of the total for the year—were for applications between March 1 and June 15, which in terms of time is relatively short for the year.