FORMER Gurkha soldiers yesterday demonstrated outside an immigration tribunal that could determine if thousands of veterans can settle in the UK.
Immigration rules state that those who retired before 1997 cannot automatically stay, and the test case will decide whether the government acted legally when it refused settlement to 14 Gurkhas.
The case, which may affect 2,000 men in total, wa
s adjourned until July.
About 15 Gurkhas had gathered outside the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in London, many wearing their medals, where they pledged allegiance to the Queen and spoke of their love of Britain.
Corporal Ragprasa Purja, 41, who served for 17 years before leaving the army in 2002, said: "We feel proud of this country, we have fought for this country, died for this country, but the treatment we are getting is not what we deserve. We are here to get justice for the Gurkhas who are suffering back home. They want to come here and get equal rights with their British counterparts."
Mr Purja, who handed back his Long Service Good Conduct medal to Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, in protest last month, said his father, who also served in the army, was still in Nepal but wanted to come to the UK. "We have the culture of respecting the old veterans … we are fighting for those back home," he said.
The full article contains 235 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
