Make BNO Hongkongers full British citizens, Boris Johnson urged by top political figures as UK election approaches
- Several influential parliamentarians call on prime minister to give holders of British National (Overseas) passports full citizenship
- The call, which its supporters say would correct ‘historic error’, injects the issue into Britain’s elections
Published: 5:59am, 22 Nov, 2019
Hundreds of protesters marched to the British Consulate in Hong Kong in September, urging the British government to grant full citizenship to British National (Overseas) passport holders. Conservative members of the House of Lords have supported the move in a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Photo: Nora Tam
Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain is facing increasing pressure to give full citizenship to Hongkongers holding British National (Overseas) passports, or BNOs, as he runs for re-election.
A former Conservative Party chairman has joined the call for Johnson, who now leads the party, to correct the “historic error” of not giving BNO holders full citizenship, while the Liberal Democrats became the first major party to support in their election manifesto a “right of abode” for these Hongkongers.
BNO passports are travel documents that the British government granted only to Hongkongers born before the 1997 handover. As they do not entail the right to live and work in the United Kingdom, there have been calls to upgrade BNOs to full citizenship status amid the protests and increasingly violent clashes with police in Hong Kong since June.
The British government has been studying what possible changes could be made but the parliamentary election has added difficulty to an already complex and sensitive matter which may weigh directly on British-China relations, several sources say.