BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES BILL GETS 1st READING

A Bill seeking to grant residents of the British Overseas Territories British citizenship had its first reading in the British Parliament on July 11th. It was moved by new Minister for the Overseas Territories Baroness Valerie Amos.
“The Bill seeks to fulfill a commitment to grant British citizenship and with it the right of abode in the United Kingdom, to British Dependent Territories citizens in qualifying overseas territories,” she stated.

In March 1999, the British Government published a White Paper entitled “Partnership for Progress and Prosperity: Britain and the Overseas Territories”. The White Paper was the culmination of a wide-ranging review of Britain’s relationship with the Overseas Territories.

It laid the foundation for a new relationship, built on the fundamental principles of self-determination, the acceptance of responsibilities on both sides and the greatest possible control for the people of the Overseas Territories over their own lives. It set out an agenda explaining what each side expected of the partnership in terms of support for good governance,
sustainable social and economic development and protection of the environment.

“Over the past two years, in close consultation with the territories, we have moved that agenda forward,” Baroness Amos told the House. She pointed out that the nature of the relationship has evolved in line with the principles in the White Paper and progress has been made across a broad range of issues, including constitutional reform, human rights, the environment and financial regulation.

An annual meeting of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council provides a forum in which Chief Ministers can get to know their British ministerial counterparts and discuss with them and with each other common problems. The next meeting will be in September.

A cornerstone of the new approach set out in the White Paper was the proposal to grant British citizenship to British Dependent Territories citizens in qualifying territories, to give proper recognition of their British connection and to lift the limitation that BDTC status carries with it. “This Bill is a fulfillment of that commitment,” the Minister declared. She explained that the proposed citizenship provisions in the Bill apply to all territories except the sovereign base areas of Cyprus, which are excluded by virtue of
their special status as military bases.

The British Government estimates that around 200,000 people could become British citizens on commencement of the Act. This number is an estimate, since it is as yet impossible to tell exactly how many people will benefit. “Nationality is a complicated area and beyond those who already hold British Dependent Territories passports, will be others who will come forward after commencement on the basis of the naturalization or registration criteria in the British Nationality Act 1981,” Baroness Amos went on to note.

She reiterated that there is no compulsion about acquiring British citizenship. “We believe that most people will want it, but British Overseas Territories citizens, as the Bill proposes they be known in future, will have the option to renounce British citizenship and to retain their current status, should they so wish.”

At the same time, the Bill formally changes the name of the territories to Overseas Territories and British Dependent Territories citizens will become British Overseas Territories citizens. There are 14 British Overseas Territories - Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St. Helena and Dependencies, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on Cyprus and the Turks and Caicos Islands.