To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any discriminatory effects on Black and Asian Commonwealth citizens of the Commonwealth Immigrants Acts 1962 and 1968 and the Immigration Act 1971; and what consideration is being given to reversing any such effects.
Answered on
6 July 2018
The Acts were approved by parliament in order to provide tighter regulations on those seeking to enter the UK.
The Commonwealth Immigrants Acts 1962 and 1968 specifically sought to make Commonwealth nationals, other than those with close family ties to the UK, subject to immigration control, in the same way as other nationals.
This was further addressed with the Immigration Act 1971 which more clearly made all commonwealth nationals subject to immigration control unless they held partiality through an ancestral connection to the UK. In order to protect those already in the UK without this connection provision was included to enable those who were settled and ordinarily resident in the UK to remain indefinitely.