Photo courtesy: Gurkha.com
BRISTOL, England (Mature Times), July 4, 2008:
The two thousand Gurkha veterans who risked their lives for this country and retired before July 1, 1997 have been denied the right to live here in their old age, having lost an adjourned test appeal case.
More than 45,000 Gurkhas died defending British interests and our way of life in both World Wars, in Malaya, in Borneo, in the Falklands and in the first Gulf War – and more than 150,000 were injured. Lawyers acting for the Gurkha veterans say that, at most, 7,000 Gurkha veterans might want to live here - a drop in the ocean compared with the number of migrants and asylum seekers flooding into Britain.
Even worse, the Gurkha veterans who came to the UK to launch their appeals were crammed in one room, living off potatoes and handouts as a guest of bus driver Gyanraj Rai in Reading. Losing their appeal means many of these brave soldiers will now struggle to live.
Lawyers for the men argued they had been treated unlawfully and unfairly, because those who enlisted before July 1997 but retired after had been denied equal pensions because their years of service up to that date were valued at only between 24% and 36% of British rates. They also said they were "saddened" by the judgment and intended to appeal.
It seems a shabby treatment for all those Gurkhas who fought and died in the service of the Crown for almost 200 years, winning 13 Victoria Crosses.
Copyright: Mature Times
July 4, 2008
U.K.: Ex-Gurkhas lose their battle to retire in the country they defended
Photo courtesy: Gurkha.com
BRISTOL, England (Mature Times), July 4, 2008:
The two thousand Gurkha veterans who risked their lives for this country and retired before July 1, 1997 have been denied the right to live here in their old age, having lost an adjourned test appeal case.
More than 45,000 Gurkhas died defending British interests and our way of life in both World Wars, in Malaya, in Borneo, in the Falklands and in the first Gulf War – and more than 150,000 were injured. Lawyers acting for the Gurkha veterans say that, at most, 7,000 Gurkha veterans might want to live here - a drop in the ocean compared with the number of migrants and asylum seekers flooding into Britain.
Even worse, the Gurkha veterans who came to the UK to launch their appeals were crammed in one room, living off potatoes and handouts as a guest of bus driver Gyanraj Rai in Reading. Losing their appeal means many of these brave soldiers will now struggle to live.
Lawyers for the men argued they had been treated unlawfully and unfairly, because those who enlisted before July 1997 but retired after had been denied equal pensions because their years of service up to that date were valued at only between 24% and 36% of British rates. They also said they were "saddened" by the judgment and intended to appeal.
It seems a shabby treatment for all those Gurkhas who fought and died in the service of the Crown for almost 200 years, winning 13 Victoria Crosses.
Copyright: Mature Times
