Useful

**albimangles** · 24-04-2009, 05:20

From the BBC

Changes to rules governing the right of Gurkhas to settle in Britain are due to be announced by the Home Secretary.

In September 2008, the High Court ruled that immigration rules denying Gurkhas who retired before 1997 an automatic right to stay in the UK were unlawful.

Campaigners argue it is wrong that veterans could face deportation.

Dhan Gurung, the first ex-Gurkha to be elected as a councillor in the UK, said he wanted "justice in the name of those who fought and died for this country".

'Continue fighting'

It is expected that Gurkhas and their supporters - including the actress Joanna Lumley - will gather in Westminster to await the announcement.

Gurkhas have been part of the Army for almost 200 years and are hand-picked from a fiercely-contested recruitment contest in Nepal to win the right to join.

They have seen combat all over the world, with 200,000 having fought in the two world wars and 45,000 believed to have lost their lives fighting for Britain.

The regiment moved its main base from Hong Kong to the UK in 1997 and the government had argued that Gurkhas discharged before that date were unlikely to have strong residential ties with the UK.

That meant those who wanted to settle in the UK had to apply for British residency and could be refused and deported.

Cllr Gurung, who serves on Folkestone Town Council near the Gurkhas' base at Shornecliffe Barracks, has served in Brunei, Bosnia and Sierra Leone.

He said campaigners were loyal to the Crown but were prepared to keep up their fight for justice.

"If our requirements are fulfilled we will be very grateful and we will say thank you to the government," he said.

"But if they are not met, we will continue fighting."

Peter Carroll of the Gurkha Justice Campaign said he feared that the government would try to circumvent the September ruling.

"The government underestimates the resonance that this issue has across the country," he said.

"People see it as a matter of national honour."

Ms Lumley, whose father served with the Gurkhas, has been a high-profile supporter of the campaign to allow them the right to settle in the UK.

"It is so obvious that the treatment of the Gurkhas has been a huge injustice," she said.

"We are talking about a comparatively small number of people who have served this country tirelessly."

'Moral debt'

Some 2,000 former Gurkhas who retired before 1997 could be affected by the announcement.

In September, Mr Justice Blake ruled that instructions given by the Home Office to immigration officials were unlawful and needed urgent revision.

He said the Gurkhas' long service, conspicuous acts of bravery and loyalty to the Crown all pointed to a "moral debt of honour" and gratitude felt by British people.

The government promised to revise its guidance, but in March 2009, the Gurkhas returned to the High Court to try and enforce the ruling.

**albimangles** · 24-04-2009, 05:24

Lets hope the government sees scene and we get justice for the Gurkhas today and an apology is also called for.

**Maple** · 24-04-2009, 06:20

Can someone DI the outrage bus just in case the slippery bastards try and pull a fast one?

**STILTS** · 24-04-2009, 06:37

Lets hope the Gurka's get their leave to remain. If not the shower of shite that call themselves the goverment might need to sleep with one eye open!

Stilts

**Miner** · 24-04-2009, 08:14

It beggers belief that we allow all & sundry to come & live here.
Yet those that have served this country, & served it bloody well, can be told to "eff off" without so much as a by your leave.
Hope this changes today.

**albimangles** · 24-04-2009, 08:51

Extra 4,300 Gurka's will be able to stay in the UK.

**tropper66** · 24-04-2009, 08:55

One of the best times of my life was when I was in Napal, I would much rather live in a street full of Gurkha's than the Pakistanis and Somalies I have now