tt wrote:bbivo. Thanks for that link.
Schedule 3 of the British Nationality Act 1981 lists those who are considered "commonwealth citizens", and this may or may not bear semblance with the reality of what is the Commonwealth. Infact, the list could be of any countries at all (in theory), Commonwealth or not.
I don't understand the point you are making here, tt. It isn't just some random list. It started out as section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act 1948, and listed the original members of the Commonwealth (apart from the UK itself) - Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Canada, Ceylon, Southern Rhodesia and Newfoundland. As former British colonies and protectorates, etc became independent, if they chose to join the Commonwealth, they were added to the list, and if they didn't, they weren't. I don't know whether South Africa was expelled from the organisation, or whether it left of its own accord (or perhaps a bit of both), but it was deleted from section 1(3) in 1962, and, as you say, not reinstated until 1994. Given the nature of the minority government of South Africa for most of that time, I don't think this was a bad thing, was it? Otherwise, the list has been pretty stable, and nearly all of the changes have been additions. An exception was Pakistan, which withdrew in 1972, because of the UK's (and other Commmonwealth countries') recognition of Bangladesh as a separate, independent, Commmonwealth country.
When South Africa left the Commonwealth, it no longer was in the definition of commonwealth citizen until it was readmitted in 1994. On the other hand, Zimbabweans remain commonwealth citizens, despite Zimbabwe leaving the Commonwealth in 2003.
I guess it comes down to Home Sec policy, and wishing to look after the rights of the whites from what was Southern Rhodesia, which I guess is kind of understandable.
Not just whites, tt. The fact is that it is the
people of Zimbabwe who would lose out if Zim were to be deleted from Schedule 3 - not the government. It is true that most (but not all...) of the people benefitting from the right of abode in the UK, and UK Ancestry visa provisions would be white, but WHM is available to people without UK connections, and there are several thousand Zimbabweans of differing races serving in the British armed forces - which would not be possible if they were not Commonwealth citizens.
And what would you do with all those Zimbabweans presently in the UK otherwise?
Yes - black
and white
Good news for any other Commonwealth country wishing to out from the organisation, isn't it (Mozambique, Cameroon, Fiji, Pakistan?).
I don't know what this means, either. Neither Mozambique nor Cameroon had ever been Commonwealth countries until they applied to join in 1995. Are they thinking of leaving? Fiji allowed its membership to lapse, but it was always hoped that, after a period, they would rejoin, and they did, about ten years later. As with Zimbabwe, deleting Fiji from the list would have disadvantaged the people, not the government.
Anyway, experience shows that the "departed" country normally comes back.
Well, except for Ireland!
Was Ireland ever a member of the Commonwealth as a separate entity form the UK? It was certainly never listed as one in either the 1948 or 1981 Acts...
