of children born here was amended late Wednesday night in the House of Assembly.

And now Bermudian women will be given the power to decide the nationality of their children which has only been available to men until now.

Married and single women will be treated the same as men under immigration changes approved said Labour and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman .

The House approved the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Amendment Act 1993.

At the same time they passed The Bermudian Status by Birth or Grant Register Amendment Act 1993.

The Progressive Labour Party, opposing the latter, said a comprehensive overhaul of the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 1956 was needed, and Bermudians will have "a confused personality'' until they can enjoy full citizenship, rather than status.

However the PLP supported the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Amendment Act.

"Until now, Bermudian women have been treated differently than Bermudian men,'' Mr. Pearman told the House.

Under the Island's 1956 Immigration Act, a child had to meet the following three conditions to be deemed Bermudian: be a Commonwealth citizen; both parents domiciled in Bermuda; and one parent Bermudian.

But children born overseas to Bermudian women were not deemed Bermudians, because women could not pass on Commonwealth citizenship as men could, he said.

Bermuda cannot retroactively make such children Commonwealth citizens, but the new register of Bermudians can be amended to give them Bermudian status, Mr.

Pearman said.

Another group of Bermudian men and women were unable to pass on their status to children born abroad because the citizenship laws of the country they were living in did not allow them to pass on their Commonwealth citizenship, he said.

Under the changes, "the child born outside Bermuda will be a Bermudian, provided the Bermudian parent in question is domiciled in Bermuda'', Mr.

Pearman said. "All Bermudian parents who have a child born overseas will be treated equally.'' Because status will be granted retroactively, the Government had to include a clause to prevent those who receive status from suing for not being regarded as Bermudians in the past, he said.

Shadow Labour and Home Affairs Minister Mrs. Lois Browne Evans said the Immigration Act has been amended so many times it was almost impossible even for lawyers to tell what it said.

Mrs. Browne Evans said: "Women have come a long way since 1956. There has been a lot of consciousness raising and we have managed to get a male-dominated Government to decide that it was time to remove this sexist bill or sections of it.'' As British Citizens of Dependent Territories, "there are so many confused citizens out there in this country, not because they can't understand ordinary citizenship, but because of the contortions we have gone through by staying in our colonial status,'' she said.

It was time for Government to convene a conference with the help of the British Foreign Office so "we can set up what is citizenship, and not this qualified stuff'', she said.

There was too much power in the hands of the Minister and officials to decide questions like who was domiciled.

"You must...take that quantum leap and go forward to full citizenship or you're going to constantly have this problem.'' Women should be able to transfer status as the law intends, she said, adding she voiced her opposition to the Immigration Act in 1956 because of its "double standards.'' "Now, we're trying to clean up a section of it and it's just a disgrace.'' Mrs. Browne Evans said people were often confused when applying for a passport.

Documents, such as affidavits, were required by the Immigration Department.

"It's getting too technical for words,'' she said.

Calling for Mr. Pearman's attention, she went on: "If you took a poll of the populace out there, they would tell you it is just confusion after confusion.

"It is not simple any more to get the simplest of documents from Immigration Department.'' Some people didn't know the difference between being from the Commonwealth or Britain.

Mrs. Browne Evans urged Mr. Pearman to have classes and seminars, as well as provide literature, to give people more information on such matters.

"Should we have an election and should we become the Government the first thing to have is a commission to study the whole gamut of legislation that deals with status of people.'' Mr. Pearman said the issues raised by the Opposition were "not of magnitude that required a great deal of concern''.

"We are not here to debate the issue of independence. It is not what we are about regarding these amendments,'' he said. "The issue that is important is the fact that this allows women to be able to pass on to their offspring what men have able to do in many years.

"Bermuda is evolved to that. We must be fair and equitable to all our citizens.'' Mr. Pearman chided the Opposition for being against the register, which served a valuable purpose.

After the House moved into Committee to discuss the bill clause by clause, the Opposition described the legislation as incomprehensible.

They ridiculed the bill's hypothetical cases of "Y and X'' who would be added to the register.

Mr. Julian Hall (PLP) said it was a "shining example'' of the confusion brought on by Government over who does and who does not belong to Bermuda.

Mr. Hall questioned the underlying rationale for adding the extra categories to the register.

He said the register was open to misuse and abuse.

It excluded those who should be on it, while including those who should not and was "insidiously'' redefining who was Bermudian.

The register was neither workable nor fair and could not be relied on to show who was Bermudian.

Mr. Hall said he had heard the register was being used at the Airport, albeit in draft form, to check citizenship.

He went on to describe how his wife was detained at the Airport after flying in from England.

His wife had gained status last year under the long-term marriage provision.

Nevertheless, she was detained for an "uncomfortable'' period as computer records were searched.

Mr. Hall expressed concern for those Bermudians who may not be on the register. How would they be treated? He continued by describing the register as "sinister''.

He also pointed out the example of ex-Bermuda beauty queen Andrea Sullivan who was studying law in England.

But she fell through a loophole in the immigration laws and was now trapped in the UK, away from her family.

Why did Government not bring in legislation to cover such cases, he asked.

There was something "sinister'' in bringing in "willy nilly'' additions to the register.

"This is a willy nilly patchwork approach,'' said Mr. Hall.

Mr. Hall ended by raising concern about the way some Immigration civil servants treat members of the public.

To Mr. Pearman he said: "I am asking the Minister to be careful about the way in which some civil servants treat members of the public. Clearly I have the right to make such a request.'' Mr. Hall stressed he was not referring to the Chief Immigration Officer, who always displayed the utmost tact, diplomacy and care.

"I am not attacking anybody. I am merely expressing a concern. It is not a concern that comes out of the blue.'' Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto said the House had heard the clarion cry for Independence from the Opposition.

This would not have been lost on members of the public.

Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto dismissed Mr. Hall's suggestion there were "sinister'' motives underlying the bill.

The register was an administrative tool that will help members of the public when they have to prove whether or not they are Bermudian.

It was designed to avoid the "administrative nightmare'' described by Mrs.

Browne Evans, said Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto.

And it was not the case that if you were not on the register you were not Bermudian.

"It is simply an administrative tool.'' Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto welcomed placing children of Bermudian women on the same footing as Bermudian men.

Mr. David Allen (PLP) said the UBP Government was always uneasy on immigration issues.

Government's record on the birthright of Bermudians has been extremely poor, he said.

Mr. Allen said the Opposition was concerned at this "piecemeal'' legislation coming to Parliament. "It's all so haphazard,'' he said.

Mr. Allen said it was important to look at the broader immigration picture.

And there was concern among people over whether there was a moratorium on status or not.

"Frankly we are concerned because Government is on record as saying they will review this moratorium.'' Mr. Allen went on to spark uproar as he claimed Government's record would doom it to defeat at the next election.

"Their record speaks for itself.'' Independent MP Mr. Stuart Hayward said he found the legislation completely incomprehensible.

He also voiced concern at Mr. Hall's comments about the behaviour of civil servants.

Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness , however, urged Mr. Hayward to disregard Mr. Hall's remarks.

It was wrong for MPs to imply negative things about civil servants, when nobody knew what was really being talked about.

Mr. Edness said the bill was designed to clear up immigration anomalies.

And Government would continue trying to help those who fell through loopholes, or missed out on being Bermudian by weeks or months.

Mr. Edness went on to criticise Opposition MPs who complained they did not understand parts of the legislation which could have been made clear by looking up law books in the library.

Opposition whip Mr. Stanley Lowe described the bill as an "abomination'' written in incomprehensible language.

"I don't think it will be really understood by many members of the House.'' Wretched as the legislation was, Mr. Lowe accepted the good intent of it.

But he said an information paper should be brought to the House to make the legislation comprehensible.

Government whip Dr. David Dyer said the register was a first step in tackling the immigration issue.

Now Government was hoping to clear up certain anomalies.

Mrs. Browne Evans also attacked the legislation for being incomprehensible.

She told Government: "You must give out information. Legislation should be able to be understood.'' It was wrong to expect MPs to go to the library to try and throw light on parts of the bill.

Mr. Pearman should have presented the history behind the legislation, and revealed how many people would be affected by it.

"Give us a proper introduction,'' Mrs. Browne Evans said.

Mrs. Browne Evans said the Opposition was against the register on principle.

The only way forward was for Bermuda to become a nation.

And it would allow such this bill to be relegated to the "waste paper basket''.

Mr. Phillip Smith (UBP) said he knew of people who would benefit from the legislation.

He spoke of a Bermudian women who had four children -- two born abroad, and two others born on the US base.

As a result the children were not Bermudian.

Mr. Walter Lister (PLP) asked how many people would be affected by the legislation.

"How many are going to take advantage of it?'' he asked.

Mr. Lister said he was concerned for those Bermudians born in Bermuda.

And he said many people were accusing the UBP of "giving the shop away''.

Bermuda was a small country with 3,400 people were square mile, and it was important to take care of Bermudians here.

Mr. Pearman, however, pointed out the bill would affect people who were on the Island.

And he was ashamed Mr. Lister appeared to turn his back on such people.

Mr. Pearman said it was wrong for the Opposition to maintain all immigration problems would be resolved in one fell swoop by independence.

Even an Act bringing on independence would need to be amended.

The House passed the bill, despite the PLP voicing opposition in principle to a register.

During later discussion on the Immigration and Protection Act, Dr. Dyer pointed out that a large number of children had been born when Bermudian women married men from the United States forces based in Bermuda. He said these women would not have the choice to attain Bermudian status for their children.

In reply to Mrs. Browne Evans question about why the amendment was being introduced now, Minister of Delegated Affairs the Hon. Sir John Sharpe replied that it was because of changes in international attitudes, a consequence of discussion with womens' groups and the fact that the law does discriminate against women.

The bill was passed without opposition.