Brown’s Shame Over the Gurkhas – if 45,000 Gurkhas died for us, we can afford to support the survivors

“If they want Gurkha soldiers, they should treat them equally”

Dhan Gurung, Ex-Gurkha

The Gurkhas of the British Army have fought for their adopted country for over 150 years. Being stationed at every corner of the globe, and risking their lives at each turn.

While it is not right to glorify war, or dismiss it like Clausewitz as “merely an extension of politics”, the treatment of the Gurkhas by Britain’s current government is unacceptable.

The Gurkhas are a proud and courageous people that have forged a reputation as some of the finest fighters in the world. These men have fought for our country for a very long period of time; indeed 26 of them have been awarded the Victoria Cross, underlining their bravery. Yet now, this Labour government sees them as a nuisance and an annoyance.

The actions of the government towards the Gurkhas have been met by derision by those aiding their fight for justice. Last week when the updated guidelines were announced to the High Court, they were heralded by the government as a way to allow many more ex-Gurkhas to settle in Britain once their military career was over.

What the government failed to mention was that their opinion of many more was a few hundred officer rank Gurkhas. If we examine the criteria, we can see just how obstructive the government has been to these ex-soldiers.

For a Gurkha to be eligible to claim asylum in the UK they must have; three years continuous residence in the UK during or after service, close family in the UK, a bravery award of level one to three, service of 20 years or more in the Gurkha brigade or a chronic or long-term medical condition caused or aggravated by service.

These rules were to apply to the 36,000 Gurkha troops who served and retired before 1997 who have now retired. They may seem reasonable but many of them have hidden caveats that cause them to be useless.

The offer to live in Britain because of a working relationship for over twenty years seems just reward for a career defending this country. However, it fails to mention that a non-commissioned Gurkha soldier can only serve a maximum of 15 years. Therefore, these offers were extended in the knowledge that they could only ever effect a very few. Gordon Brown argued that it was an improvement from twenty years previously, however, why should we accept an improvement from ignorance to elitism?

While Brown and Woolas have suggested that several thousand Gurkhas will be able to settle in Britain because of these changes, the response of the Gurkha Justice Campaign is that it will only encompass a few hundred of the officer class.

The gesture made by the government at least shows a positive step, but it was forced by a high court ruling, and these new stipulations were thrown out by parliament at last week’s vote. With the government being defeated for only the fourth time since coming to power in 1997, it shows how insensitive the government was to this matter.

We are abandoning men who have served our country proudly in theatres such as the Second World War, up until the present day where they have been present in Helmand, Afghanistan.

The Gurkha’s settlement rights have become somewhat of a cause celebre with the public support of Joanna Lumley and the emergence of the Gurkha Justice Campaign.

However, I feel that we are depriving many thousands of British troops the chance to live in the country that they have served and protected.

The influx of numbers of ex-Gurkhas will not cripple the state. Not all will want to move from the province in northern India where they hail from, but we should offer the opportunity to those who wish to.

Every year we commemorate those that have died in the many wars that the British have fought. In the Second World War alone, 45,000 Gurkhas died. They gave their lives to protect our country, and yet we now belittle their legacy by ignoring their modern brothers.

Allowing the Gurkhas to settle in Britain is not an act that glorifies war. It is one that we should make to show our gratitude to these men for volunteering to serve in our army. The actions of parliament make the chances of a positive outcome in the future likely, but our government should not have needed to be defeated to find justice for these men.

If we remember those that have already died on 11th November, why should we not show our appreciation now, to those that have survived?