Gurkhas win right to stay in Britain
GURKHAS fighting for the right to settle in Britain won their court battle today.
Five veteran Gurkhas and the widow of another took their case to the High Court after they were told they could not retire in the UK.
They were challenging what has now been declared an unlawful immigration policy which said ex Gurkhas who were discharged from service before 1997 did not have automatic rights to stay.
Although Nepalese Gurkhas have traditionally fought alongside British troops in battles for the past 200 years, the Government said some had failed to show “strong ties” to the UK.
But Mr Justice Blake ruled the long military service of these men, wounds sustained in battle, conspicuous acts of bravery and gallantry and their commitment and loyalty to the Crown all point to an unquestionable historic “moral debt of honour” and gratitude which the ordinary people of Britain embrace and celebrate.
In jubilant scenes at the High Court in London, hundreds of Gurkhas packed into the courtroom to hear the judge’s ruling.
Lawyers for men said: “Today we have seen a tremendous and historic victory for the gallant Gurkha veterans of Nepal.
“This is a victory that restores honour and dignity to deserving soldiers who faithfully served in Her Majesty’s armed forces.
“It is a victory for common sense; a victory for fairness; and a victory for the British sense of what is ’right’.”
“My clients, and the thousands of Gurkhas standing behind them, ask for nothing more from this country than the unfettered right to live amongst the British people - a people they have protected and loved throughout years of long and loyal service to the Crown.”
Nearly 50,000 Gurkhas have died fighting for Britain since 1815 and 150,000 have been seriously injured while serving. Yet thousands who retired before July 1 1997 were refused visas and forced to live in poverty in Nepal.
All other foreign soldiers in the Army have a right to settle in Britain after four years of service anywhere in the world. Gurkhas who retired from the Army after 1997 can automatically stay in the UK.
Daily Express readers have given their wholehearted support to the Gurkhas' plight from the start.
Actress Joanna Lumley, whose father Major James Lumley fought alongside the Gurkhas in Burma in the Second World War, has been an active supporter of the campaign.
She said: “I am so proud of British justice and so proud of the Gurkhas. At last we can begin to put this great wrong right.”
The judgement, which was a test case, will affect some 2,000 others who were also refused entry to the UK.
