BritishHongKong is an organisation registered in Scotland, by the registration number SC342073. Our aim is to lobby on behalf of all British Nationals (Overseas) of all ethnicities for the basic human rights that we deserve as British nationals, i.e., the right of abode in the UK and the right to both full British and European Citizenship.

We are deeply concerned about the racial discrimination and current lack of human rights in the UK’s nationality laws. We believe HM government needs take the necessary actions to uphold justice for British nationals who have been deprived of the unconditioned right to enter the UK and access to full British citizenship.

A brief summary:

• The position of non-citizen British nationals needs to be carefully considered within the new immigration system.

• While all British nationals previously had the right to enter the UK, this was removed progressively – in ways which many have considered to be racially discriminatory.

• The right to enter one’s country and not to be expelled is one that is protected under various human rights instruments. Despite this, the UK has failed to protect these rights, and have continued to deny 4-5 million British nationals the right to enter the UK.

• This is while 400m+ EU/EEA nationals enjoy the right to enter the UK under EU laws. In effect, the UK is treating foreign nationals more favourably than its own nationals – by having removed the basic human rights of its own nationals on one hand, while similar rights are guaranteed to foreign nationals.

• In order to guarantee the basic human rights of all British nationals, and to equalise the rights of all British nationals, we recommend that all non-citizen British nationals be granted an entitlement to register directly as full British citizens, and an entitlement to permanent/indefinite permission to enter the UK for those who are unable to, or choose not to, register as full British citizens.

1) Violation of the rights of British nationals

The right to enter one’s country of nationality is a basic human right guaranteed under Article 12 of the International Convention of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Protocol 4 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). It is clear that HM Government is aware that the UK is currently in breach of these human rights instruments, as it has admitted that “in the absence of any change in the arrangements for issuing British passports and the relevant provisions of our immigration legislation, it is not possible to ratify”[1] Protocol 4 of the ECHR.

However, although the UK has signed these human rights instruments more than 30 years ago and HM Government is aware that legislative changes are necessary, it is appalling that HM Government is “not proposing to make any changes in relation to the status of British nationals”[2] and thus have decided to continue violating the human rights of its own nationals by denying them entry into the UK. To add insult to injury, more than 400 million European citizens are already guaranteed these very same rights to live and work in the UK under EU treaties, which have been present since the 1970s. Given that these rights are already enjoyed by hundreds of millions of foreign nationals, there is no justifiable reason for the UK to continue to deny these rights to British nationals, whose number is far less than the number of European citizens. Therefore, it would only seem logical to make immediate legislative changes to restore the rights for all British nationals to enter the UK.

2) Racial discrimination

Furthermore, all British nationals were previously able to enter the UK without subject to immigration control. But the British Nationality Act 1981 and its subsequent amendments, which separated British nationals into six categories, has forcibly removed the right of various British nationals to enter the UK, and have been heavily criticised as being racially discriminatory. As described by Anne Dummett, the overall “effect [of these categories] is to give full British citizenship to a group of whom at least 96% are white people, and the other four forms of nationality to groups who are at least 98% non-white.”[3] This inherent race discrimination is also reiterated in Lord Goldsmith’s recent Citizenship Review: “In the past the different categories [of British Nationality] have created much unhappiness particularly as the concepts of “patriality” were seen as a way of discriminating between white and black members of overseas communities.”[4] In addition, both the European Commission of Human Rights and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination have criticised aspects of the UK’s different categories of British nationality as containing elements of race discrimination.[5], [6]

Aims and goals:

1.BritishHongKong is to provide sufficient information for the BN(O), in terms of its status and difficulties.

2. BritishHongKong is appealing to the UK government for a reconsideration of the whole British nationality law, whether it has reached the 21st century European standard.

3.BritishHongKong aims to educate BN(O)s what it means to be proud British – British citizenship education.

4.BritishHongKong provides assistance to all British Nationals (Overseas) in renewing passports, traveling, studying and working overseas and in the UK, and immigration issues… Please note that we are NOT an immigration consultant firm and we do not provide legal advice.

5. BritishHongKong endeavour to provide all possible assistance to all BN(O)s of all ethnicities, all of whom are regarded as ethnic minorities in the UK.

6. BritishHongKong would continue seeking help and legal advice from lawyers and human rights organisations all over the UK and Europe, for the benefits of British Nationals (Overseas).

BritishHongKong is also member of the following organisations:

European Commission’s Register of Interest representative

SCVO

UN Civil Society Network

JUSTICE

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[1] House of Lords – Answer to Question HL349

[2] House of Lords – Answer to Question HL1301

[3] Anne Dummett, The New British Nationality Act, British Journal of Law and Society, Vol 8, No 2.

[4] Lord Goldsmith, Citizenship: Our Common Bond.

[5] East Asian Africans v UK (1981) 3 EHRR 76: “… the legislation applied in the present cases discriminated against applicants on the grounds of their colour or race”.

[6] Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination : United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 28/03/96. CERD/C/304/Add.9