§ 68. Mr. Parkerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have yet ratified 15W the 1961 United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
§ Mr. George ThomsonNo. As the hon. Member the then Under-Secretary of State explained to the hon. Gentleman on 30th July, it is necessary first to amend by Order in Council the British Protectorates, Protected States, and Protected Persons Order, 1949. This must be done in order to give stateless children of British protected persons privileges corresponding to those already given to stateless children of citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies by the British Nationality (No. 2) Act which the hon. Gentleman himself introduced. The drafting of this Order in Council, which has proved to be a complex task, is in hand. Her Majesty's Government intend to ratify the Convention as soon as possible after the Order in Council has been made.