§ Mr. Juddasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the criteria being applied by Her Majesty's Government in deciding whether former British Asians in Uganda are stateless.
§ Mr. KershawIt is not for Her Majesty's Government to decide whether persons who are resident in another country are stateless. The British High Commission in Kampala decides, on the evidence produced, whether or not under the law of the United Kingdom, a person may be recognised as a national of the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Juddasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards re-registering former British citizens in East Africa as British citizens in the light of the undertaking given by the British Government in 1963.
§ Mr. KershawIf the hon. Member is referring to the undertaking given in another place during the passage of the Kenya Independence Bill about people who renounced citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies in order to acquire local citizenship, this undertaking was implemented by the enactment of the 153W British Nationality Act, 1964, which gave persons with a substantial United Kingdom connection, for example by birth or paternal ancestry, a right to resumption of citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies by registration. The Act gives discretion, the exercise of which is for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, to register when there is no substantial United Kingdom connection.