Jubilant Gurkha veterans won the right on Thursday to settle in Britain, after a government climbdown in the face of a campaign spearheaded by Indian-born actress Joanna Lumley.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said all of the Nepalese fighters who retired before 1997 and have served at least four years with the British army can now apply for residency.
Smith’s announcement was greeted by an explosion of applause and victory cries by former Gurkhas and campaigners, including Lumley, who were gathered outside the House of Commons.
PHOTO: AFP
An emotional Lumley praised Prime Minister Gordon Brown, calling him a “brave man who has made today a brave decision on behalf of the bravest of the brave.”
“This will be received in Nepal today with the greatest joy and gratitude,” she said, standing in front of Gurkha veterans in wheelchairs wearing their British military service medals.
Brown said in a statement the new rules recognized “the unique nature of the service given to the UK by the Brigade of Gurkhas.”
Under the outgoing rules, Britain would only grant residency rights to 4,300 ex-Gurkhas, falling short of demands that all 36,000 of the Nepalese who served with the British army before 1997 be eligible.
But announcing the new policy, Smith told lawmakers: “All former Gurkhas who retired before 1997 and who have served more than four years will now be eligible to apply for settlement in the UK.
“On the basis of the figure of 10,000 to 15,000 main applicants that has been suggested by Gurkha representatives, I expect to be able to welcome these applicants and their families over the course of the next two years.
“I’m making resources available ... to do this and I’m making it clear there should be no time limit on these applications,” she said.
The government was forced to change its stance after it suffered a defeat on the issue in a Commons vote last month.
Smith said ministers had undertaken to “respect the will of the House” and drawn up the new rules.
She reiterated that Gurkhas who retired after 1997 — when their base was moved from Hong Kong following the territory’s handover from Britain to China — already had the right to settle in the UK and more than 6,000 had already done so.
Britain’s border authorities have been instructed to process 1,400 outstanding applications from former Gurkhas “as a matter of urgency by June 11,” she said.
Successful applicants will be entitled to bring with them their spouses and dependent children under age 18.
Lumley, the star of cult TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous, said: “It is one of the happiest days of my life. This is a landmark day we will never forget. It is so thrilling to have overcome something which has gone on for so long.”
Lumley said she was proud to be regarded as a “daughter of the regiment” because her late father had fought with the Gurkhas.
More than 100 veterans attended an impromptu garden party at Brown’s Downing Street office after the announcement, where the prime minister described the Gurkhas as the “bravest of all.”
Their campaign has also been backed by the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
Some veterans last year returned their medals to the British government in one of a number of high-profile protests.
As public anger built over the government’s original position, Brown agreed to hold a private meeting with Lumley over the issue.
Amid extraordinary scenes, she ambushed Immigration Minister Phil Woolas in a TV studio after several veterans were told their residency applications had been rejected.
The Brigade of Gurkhas was formed in 1948 from Indian army regiments.
About 200,000 Gurkhas fought for Britain in World Wars I and II and more than 45,000 have died in British uniform. Around 3,500 currently serve in the British army, including in Afghanistan.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to