Here on FTD facts leave shared information and facts about the Gurkhas before now, they're known but many as the most feared warriors
However, despite their reputation and accomplishments
Many Gurkha have not had the greatest
Experience throughout history. So I want to explore the dark truth of the issues that the Gurkha faced
Hey everyone, Leroy Kenton here and welcome to another episode
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So now let's jump into the dark truth about the issues at the Gurkhas face
The brigade of Gurkhas is the collective name which refers to all the units in the british
Army that are composed of the Nepalese Gurkha soldiers
The brigade comes from the Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Army
This was before Indian independence and prior to that
Served for the East Indian company in the past several years in the Year 2015 to be exact the brigade
Celebrated 200 years of service in the British Army their Gurkha justice campaign was a campaign group in the United Kingdom
fighting for the rights of Gurkhas back in the year
1814 during the war in Nepal where the British attempted to have Nepal join into their empire
Army officers were really impressed by the Gurkha soldiers
And they encouraged them to volunteer for the East Indian company there over
2,000 Gurkhas who are recruited by the British Army for the Gurkha contingent of the Singapore Police Force and also
Approximately 2,000 Gurkhas served in the Gurkha reserve unit in Brunei
And in addition to the British Army the Gurkhas are also recruited by the Indian army
Now there is approximately a hundred thousand of them in 44 battalions plus 25 battalions of Assam
Rifles, this is all part of the agreement that was signed at the time of India's independence
It wanted the Gurkhas who fought for the UK to gain the same rights as their British and Commonwealth
counterparts the group wanted the law to be changed to that all
Gurkhas who fought for the UK would gain a right of abode whereas under the previous legislation
They only had the right of abode if they retired after 1997
so they took their case to the High Court and had the support of a number of celebrities including
Jalan Alum Lee until 2004 Gurkhas were not allowed to settle in the United Kingdom
However, the government under Tony Blair changed the rules so that the Gurkhas who retired after
1997 would be allowed to settle in the UK the
Significance of 1997 by the way is because that was when the Gurkha brigade headquarters
Moved from Hong Kong to Britain now the soldiers who retired before this date however were only allowed the same
settlement rights under certain strict
Circumstances, but the Gurkha Justice Campaign wanted the same settlement rights for all Gurkha soldiers
So just imagine you serving a country and putting your life on the line for years only to be told up well
Sorry, you can't stay here
Yeah, not a good feeling at all
so in the year 2008 the High Court ruled that the policy had been illegal since the process used to determine pre
1997 applications was deemed unjust
The government up Gordon Brown agreed to create new rules
However, these rules were unveiled in April of 2014 in 2009
But then the Gurkha saw this and they were upset, but why were they so upset?
well
You see because there was no automatic right to settle in the United Kingdom for all Gurkha veterans
Gurkhas who wanted to settle in the UK would have to meet one or more of the five
Requirements and they were they had to have three years of continuous residence in the UK during or your service
They need to also have close family in the UK
They need to be awarded a bravery award at level one or level three
They have to have given 20 years of service or more in the Gurkha Brigade and also chronic or long-term
medical conditions caused or
Aggravated by service if they had that they would have been accepted now campaigners claimed that under these rules only about a hundred
Gurkhas would qualify for residency in the UK
Although the government suggested that no there was like four thousand three hundred of them. That could have been eligible to settle
So let's talk a little bit about how this kind of backfired for the Gurkhas and joanna lumley
Some claim that her involvement has caused a lot more problems than it even solved
Britain has not proved to be the land flowing with milk and honey
Like the promised land like they so believed instead according to the British Gurkha Welfare Society
Joanna Lumley's campaign has resulted in thousands of elderly and unwell Gurkha pensioners
Living in poor living conditions and having very low incomes
So on one hand, it was like hey great
You know
It was a victory for the Gurkhas they can settle in the UK where a lot more of them anyways could settle in the UK
after serving four years in the British Army, however
At the same time now, they're in the UK and they're a lot older
They're not making as much money because the pension is so little they're completely miserable
Well, not saying every single one of them but a large portion of them are so what are your thoughts on this?
Let me know was this a victory do you think or was it more of a disaster than anything?
I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments down below because your voice in your opinion really matters here on FTD facts
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Everybody so there's our first video that we've done about the Gurkhas
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