Reading West MP Martin Salter who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gurkhas’ Rights has described the announcement today by Home Office Minister Phil Woolas on the Government’s new guidelines covering the settlement of former Gurkha soldiers as “bitterly disappointing”. The Government’s announcement was in response to the High Court ruling last September which ruled the current guidance to be unlawful.

Mr Salter had been campaigning for Gurkhas who retired prior to 1997 to be given the same rights as any other foreign national who has fought for the British Crown for more than four years and for them to be allowed to apply to settle in the UK. He is particularly disappointed that 90 percent of Gurkha soldiers who fought for Britain in the Falklands War will not be eligible for settlement rights under the new guidelines.

Home Office Minister Phil Woolas announced the following five criteria for settlement:

• 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
• Chronic or long-term medical condition caused or aggravated by service

Martin Salter said:-

“Whilst I accept that the only Government to do anything for the Gurkhas was this Labour Government, I am bitterly disappointed that they have failed to finish the job that they started in 2004 when Gurkha soldiers who retired after 1997 were given the right to stay in this country. There has been a massive internal debate within Government and it is clear that the Ministry of Defence have won out over the Home Office who were always more sympathetic to the Gurkhas cause. I think it is disgraceful that this ruling still means that 90 percent of the Gurkhas who fought for Britain the Falklands War in the 1980s will be denied the right to settle in the country they risked their lives for. These new criteria have been cynically compiled to ensure that the ordinary serving Gurkha soldier has little or no chance of qualifying for settlement in the UK as only the Officer Class are allowed to serve for twenty years.”

He added:-

“As far as I’m concerned the campaign for Gurkha justice continues and I and I know other colleagues on the Labour benches will be looking to use any Parliamentary means at our disposal to challenge this dreadfully disappointing decision. How can it be right for this country to offer settlement rights to former British soldiers from Jamaica or Fiji but to deny those same rights to the Gurkhas?”

The decision was also slammed by actress Joanna Lumley whose father served with the Gurkhas, who said that most Gurkhas would not have been allowed to stay in the UK for three years or have gained a bravery award. Joanna Lumley said:-

“They’ve given five bullet points that virtually cannot be met by the ordinary Gurkha soldier. It is so obvious that the treatment of the Gurkhas has been a huge injustice,” she said. To treat them like this is despicable.”

However Home Office said that as a result of the decision, a total of 4,300 Ghurkas who served prior to 1997 would be eligible for residency.  These figures were challenged by solicitors acting for the Gurkhas who said that it was highly unlikely that more than a few hundred would qualify under the new criteria. A spokesman for the Home Office added there were currently 1,300 applications outstanding, 300 of which would now be granted.