Report on United Kingdom degree of security and permanence which it provides. Only British born citizens without an alternative nationality are immune from deprivation (although they could be made subject to exclusion orders). Those with a dual nationality and those who have naturalised may see their citizenship removed. It is probable that a greater proportion of these latter groups will belong to the UK’s ethnic minorities. While many of the former injustices associated with British citizenship were moved in the early years of the twenty-first century, recent years have thus seen new axes of exclusion and discrimination emerge. 3.4 Nationality, immigration and the Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations is the shadow of the old Empire but still has considerable emotional power. Almost all of its member states are previous countries of the Empire, but not all former British territories are members.48 In a striking reversal of the previous position, a person from a Commonwealth country does not for that reason have any particular advantage in relation to British citizenship rights, though many people do have rights rooted in the historical connection with the UK. Some citizens of Commonwealth countries still have the right of abode in the UK granted to them by the Immigration Act 1971 and others are citizens by descent (although this ends after one generation unless a connection with the UK is maintained through residence). Others may be able to use a provision in the immigration rules that allows those with a grandparent born in the UK to work and, after five years, settle in the UK without having to meet the usual criteria for a work visa. The remaining British Overseas Citizens and British Dependent Territories Citizens are subject to immigration control (the only concession is access to the youth mobility scheme which replaced the working holidaymaker scheme) but have rights to register instead of naturalising as British citizens if they meet the conditions. Otherwise, particularly since the abolition of the working holidaymaker visa in 2008, the position of Commonwealth citizens who are not British citizens is indistinguishable from other non-nationals. 3.5 British nationality and citizenship law and its external relationships Britain’s citizenship laws are not apparently much directly affected by formal relations or agreements with foreign states.49 In relation to the European Community, the UK decided that only British citizens, and not other British nationals, would be European citizens, and this was upheld by the Luxembourg court in Kaur.50 However policy towards certain categories of British nationals is clearly affected by international politics. Gibraltarians were British citizens from the inception of the 48 The Irish Free State became the Republic of Ireland and left; Malaya became part of Malaysia, and Newfoundland became part of Canada. Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged as Tanzania; Zimbabwe was suspended and then withdrew. In 1961, South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth because of pressure against its then apartheid policies, and the Commonwealth also participated in sanctions against the regime (Commonwealth Accord on South Africa October 1985), before the ending of apartheid and the rejoining of South Africa in 1994. Applications to join the Commonwealth have been made by Sudan, Algeria, Madagascar, Yemen and the Palestinian National Authority; Mozambique and Rwanda have joined. 49 More obvious in this area are expulsion policies, where the UK has been anxious to expel foreign nationals to countries which have a reputation for ill-treatment of their citizens that would make such expulsions amount to a breach of Art 3 EHCR. Britain has obtained ‘readmission’ agreements, effectively agreements by the home country not to torture those returned. These agreements were always controversial. 50 Case C-192/99 Kaur [2001] ECR I-1237, confirming the Declaration made in 1972 and appended to the Treaty of Accession to the European Community. RSCAS/EUDO-CIT-CR 2014/1 - © 2014 Authors 19