he refuses to leave Bermuda voluntarily, Labour and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness said yesterday.

"He's been asked to leave,'' Mr. Edness said of Mr. Manuel Pacheco. "If he refuses to do that, what happens is automatic.'' Mr. Edness said the case was a difficult one, Mr. Pacheco having arrived in Bermuda from the Azores 25 years ago, when he was 14. He lost his long-time job at Terra's Grocery when it was sold last year.

"He was given the chance to seek employment elsewhere in Bermuda,'' Mr.

Edness said. "He's tried, and he's been unsuccessful.

"He's worked at a fairly low level of employment, at a grocery shop. In that area, there is great competition at this time coming from Bermudians for those types of jobs. The employment he seeks Bermudians are able and willing to do.

"The problem that the Government has at this stage is since he's unable to find other employment, he's obviously unable to look after himself.'' Most recently, Mr. Pacheco was asked to leave Bermuda by last Friday. He said he plans to fight to remain on the Island.

Mr. Edness confirmed that grocer T.A. Adderley & Son sought a work permit for Mr. Pacheco after reporting it had advertised the post and found no suitable Bermudian applicants. But the Immigration Department told the grocer to re-advertise, which it refused to do.

"It was felt whatever had taken place before was inadequate.'' Mr. Pacheco, whose parents now live in Canada, is divorced. His former wife has returned to the Azores with his two sons. Although he said he has no ties to the Azores, Mr. Edness said he understands Mr. Pacheco has a house there.

Mr. Trevor Moniz MP, Mr. Pacheco's lawyer, has said that his client's case illustrates "a huge hypocrisy'' in the way long-term residents are treated.

Mr. Edness rejected that claim as untrue.

Position papers released by Government in the lead-up to the August 16 Independence referendum said provision would be made in an Independent Bermuda for people like Mr. Pacheco, he said.

Those who had lived in Bermuda for at least 20 years would be granted citizenship, unless there was some reason why they should not, the position papers said.

Mr. Moniz said if Bermuda felt it would owe something to long-term residents as an Independent nation, Government should feel the same way as a dependent territory.

"He's not talking about the same thing,''Mr. Edness said.

Commonwealth countries offered citizenship to long-time residents as a one-time deal upon Independence to ensure nobody was left stateless, the Minister said.

"In this case, we're not talking about citizenship, we're talking about status. Status is very different and Mr. Moniz knows that. He's misleading the public when he says they're one and the same.'' Mr. Edness said he would like to find a way to assist long-term residents in Bermuda. But if it was decided to give some kind of domicile to residents of 20 to 25 years, steps would have to be taken to assure it did not happen again.

That would mean limiting the length of stay for guest workers to six years, for example, which would create a whole range of new problems for employers.