§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the Government's decision to allow Falkland Islanders and British citizens in Hong Kong to be redesignated as British citizens will enable these persons to claim immigration rights; and to what extent he estimates the numbers of such persons who would be able to claim such rights, in each instance.
§ Mr. RaisonThe Bill introduced by my noble Friend Baroness Vickers to confer British citizenship on the Falklanders was given a Second Reading in another place on 29 November. If it becomes law it will confer British citizenship, and with it the right of abode in the United Kingdom, on some 400 persons who would not otherwise acquire it, though my right hon. Friend announced in April that no Falkland Islander would have any difficulty over admission to the United Kingdom whether he had a right of abode or not. The hon. Member is wrong in thinking that any decision has been taken under which citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies from Hong Kong who under the terms of the British Nationality Act 1981 will become British Dependent Territories citizens on 1 January 1983 will instead become British citizens.