A lawyer accused Government yesterday of ignoring his and other citizens' complaints over another section of Immigration law said to have created "double standards.'' Lawyer Mr. David Cooke said he has tried for nearly two years to get an answer from the Immigration Department to a letter he wrote pointing out an "anomaly'' in the laws highlighted by a recent amendment to the Bermudian Status by Birth or Grant Register Act 1992.

The amendment was supposed to address the unfairness arising from a Bermudian woman's inability to pass on her status to her non-Bermudian-born child, while a Bermudian father could.

However, while the law was changed to allow women to also pass on their status, the wording excluded mothers born before July 1, 1956.

"It appears that the representations made have just been ignored, but maybe not,'' Mr. Cooke said.

"Maybe they were considered and dismissed. But I find it curious to hear an Immigration official say he has never heard of the situation.'' He noted, "I have heard nothing since August 1993 and I made representations by letter not a phone call.'' Mr. Cooke added that he took exception to remarks attributed last month to an Immigration official who said that the case of Mrs. Betsey Dix, born to a Bermudian mother before 1956, was the "first'' such case he had heard of.

Mr. Cooke wrote in his letter: "Had the Amendment Act not been limited to those people born on or after July 1, 1956, the excluded persons would now be entitled to be entered on the Register (of Bermudians) in the same way as people born after that date but otherwise in exactly the same circumstances.'' He noted non-Bermudian men and women born before 1956 could obtain Bermuda status under the "amnesty'' provided for in a section of the act.

While the amendment did go some ways in addressing the inequity, he said, "There is at least one aspect of the very same inequity which was not addressed and thus remains. Indeed while government may not perceive that there is an enormous amount of excluded persons (I am personally aware of a few), the fact that the inequity to those born after July 1, 1956 has been addressed makes the neglect of those born prior to July 1, 1956 that much more severe.'' The Immigration official last month had said that officials were preparing a report for Labour and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman after Mrs.

Dix, who was born in 1956 to a Bermudian mother, complained of "an extreme double standard'' in immigration laws.

The brother of Bermuda building expert Mr. Sanders Frith Brown, Mrs. Dix is the daughter of Bermudian Mrs. Lucy Hutchings Frith Brown, who died last year.

Having moved to Bermuda as a young girl, Mrs. Dix stayed on the Island until she was about 17, when she went abroad to school. She returned to the Island for a stint in the 1960s, when she taught at Warwick Academy and Prospect Secondary School for Girls. She now lives in England.

Mrs. Dix noted that children of her mother's brother, the late Mr. Alexander Frith, were deemed to be Bermudian.

"I lived my whole life elsewhere on the basis that I had no right to live in Bermuda,'' she said.

Chairperson of the Women's Advisory Council Mrs. JoCarol Robinson said the issue was a concern because there appeared to be "a blatant flaw'' in the legislation.

The Immigration official said a report with a proposed amendment will be prepared for Mr. Pearman, and "the Minister will decide whether to take that forward or not.'' Mr. Pearman yesterday said he was not aware of such a report, however, he would look into the matter. "It's not appropriate for me to comment at this stage,'' he said.