Global Policy Forum

By Angela Wigglesworth and Christopher Lockwood

The citizens of St Helena took their case for British passports and a new constitution to the United Nations yesterday in an attempt to spur the Government to deliver on its promises.

The 5,500 "Saints" lost their right to a full British passport in the 1981 British Nationality Act and have fought for it ever since. They have also demanded to be administered not as a colony but as a Crown dependency, much like the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, and have called for proper investment.

Their case was put to the UN Committee on Decolonisation by Prof Hudson Janisch, a Canadian academic who is a direct descendant of a 19th century St Helena-born governor of the south-eastern Atlantic island.

With no airport and only one regular Royal Mail Ship, St Helena is one of the most isolated points on earth.

A 1999 government White Paper on Overseas Dependent Territories spoke of "a partnership for progress and prosperity" and promised full British citizenship.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the Government stood by the promise of passports. "It will happen," he said. "It's just a matter of time."