LONDON (AFP)
British actress Joanna Lumley led a protest by Gurkhas outside London’s High Court Tuesday as they demanded the government stop dragging its feet over a court ruling allowing them to settle here.
Holding placards outside the court, they asked judges for an injunction forcing ministers to carry out a decision in September that approved extending the right to stay permanently in Britain to all Gurkha veterans.
At the moment, only Gurkha soldiers who retired after 1997 – when their base was moved from Hong Kong to Britain – have the automatic right to stay permanently.
All other foreign soldiers in the British army can settle in Britain after four years’ service. “We want the High Court to say that the new policy must be applied forthwith, immediately,” Lumley, whose father fought alongside the Gurkhas in World War II, said.
Describing the delay in implementing the court ruling as “disgraceful,” Lumley said that more than 1,300 Gurkhas wanted the right to settle in Britain, but the government had not reviewed any of their cases.
A spokesman for Britain’s interior ministry said revised guidance on the issue was “currently under consideration and will be issued as soon as possible. Once we have published the guidance, all cases will be reviewed.
“We are determined to get the guidance right to ensure that it is fair to all Gurkhas. This has involved consultation across government.”
Almost 250,000 people signed a petition, handed to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Downing Street office in November, saying all Gurkha veterans should be allowed to settle in Britain. Around 3,500 Gurkhas currently serve in the British Army, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, where two of the Nepalese soldiers have died this month. More than 45,000 in total have died serving Britain.
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