As the political crisis in the former British colony escalates, calls have been made for the UK to restore the right of abode to people in Hong Kong
Prior to Hong Kong’s handover in 1997, three million people held British Dependent Territories Citizens passports which gave them the right of abode in the UK. Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong before the handover, unsuccessfully petitioned the UK at that time to give the right of abode to all Hong Kong citizens, but Britain replaced the existing passports with a British Nationals (Overseas) passport (“BN(O) Passport”), which allows visa-free travel to the UK and easier entry to many countries which require visas for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport holders, but does not grant the holder the right to live or work in Britain.
Campaigners and officials point to the fact that the basic rights and freedoms and high degree of autonomy promised by the British and which forms the basis of the Sino-British joint declaration are not being upheld. As fears of direct intervention by Beijing grow, pro-democracy campaigners have argued that the British government, as the only other signatory to the joint declaration, has a legal and moral responsibility to protect the citizens who held BN(O) Passports at handover.
Several hundred protestors rallied outside the British consulate on Sunday to demand the BN(O) Passport be converted into full a British passport. Around 170,000 people are currently thought to hold BN(O) Passports, but the renewal applications have increased sharply in recent years.
