§ LORD BARNBYasked Her Majesty's Government:
By what regulation or procedure Asians born in India and resident in Uganda and so qualifying for Ugandan citizenship are being currently granted entry permits into the United Kingdom as "Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies"; and whether any such 2135WA are being granted permanent residence in the United Kingdom rather than residence for set periods in the first instance; and, if so, on what grounds.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANAsians born in India and resident in Uganda did not automatically acquire Ugandan citizenship. Many registered in Uganda before Independence as Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies under the provisions of the British Nationality Act 1948, and these were entitled, but not obliged, to become Ugandan citizens by registration under the provisions of the Constitution, upon application within two years of Independence. Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies and other Commonwealth citizens could also be registered as Ugandan citizens under the provisions of the Ugandan Citizenship Act 1962, but such registration was discretionary. In either case the persons concerned were required under Ugandan law to renounce any other citizenship they possessed within 90 days or any extended time limit in order to retain Ugandan citizenship.
As the noble Baroness, Lady Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie, informed the noble Lord on September 22, the entry certificates issued to United Kingdom passport holders of Asian origin who are expelled from Uganda are for settlement and no restriction on the length of time the holders may spend here is attached.