Gurkha fury at settlement rules
Joanna Lumley expressed her outrage outside parliament
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Friday, 24, Apr 2009 05:38
Campaigners have comprehensively scorned new regulations that the government hoped would draw a line under the settlement of Gurkhas in the UK.
The Home Office was told last autumn by the high court that rules blocking Gurkhas who retired before 1997 from automatic residency status were illegal.
Today immigration minister Phil Woolas unveiled new rules he said would allow 4,300 Gurkhas to settle in Britain, although he later admitted the figure was an estimate.
Campaigners, responding to the written ministerial statement at Westminster, have accused the government of "treachery" over five criteria attached to the rules, one of which must be met for a Gurkha to be allowed British residency.
Gurkha campaigners explain their anger at the government's proposals:
Gurkha residency criteria
- Three years continued lawful residence in the UK (despite Gurkhas only being permitted for two)
- Close family settled in the UK
- Have a level one to three award for gallantry, leadership or bravery
- 20 or more years service in the brigade (despite only officers being allowed to serve for this length of time)
- Suffer from a chronic or long-term medical condition directly related to service in the brigade
Campaigner Joanna Lumley, whose father served with Gurkhas, said she was "ashamed" of the government, saying that only 100 officer-class Gurkhas would be eligible under the five criteria.
A spokesperson for the campaign added: "This is nothing less than an act of treachery and betrayal, showing scant regard for the high court judgment of last September."
Mr Woolas, responding to the criticism on the BBC, said the government had done "what the judge told us to do".
"Were we to do [what campaigners] wanted we could be looking at 100,000 people arriving in the UK," he continued.
Campaigners meanwhile are preparing to take the issue back to the courts in order to help the 36,000 surviving Gurkhas who served prior to the 1997 cut-off, when the brigade's main base moved from Hong Kong to Britain.
Gurkhas, drawn from the local population in Nepal, have fought in the British army for almost 200 years - 200,000 fought in the two world wars - and more than 45,000 died in the process.