Ex soldiers are duped into paying thousands of pounds for promise of anew life in the UK, but end up penniless in dingy flats on food handouts.
But the dream has turned sour for hundreds of ex-Gurkha soldiers taking advantage of the hard-won right to settle here after Ab Fab star Joanna Lumley’s campaign last year.
At the time Joanna said: “A great injustice has been righted.”
But a Sunday Mirror investigation has found the Nepalese soldiers are victimised before they even set off and end up living in squalor in Britain. Officially Britain is welcoming the Gurkhas.
But in reality only working-age parents with young children are likely to end up living in decent conditions.
Those who are retired find their Gurkha pensions are almost worthless and some even need food handouts.
Falklands War veteran Gyanendra Rai, who called Joanna a goddess for her support, now sleeps on a floor in the Army town of Aldershot, Hants, where many Gurkhas settle.
Other families are left heartbroken when they find only children under 18 are eligible for visas.
The vets’ quest starts with a trek to Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, and the offices of the Gurkha Army Ex- Servicemen’s Association.
There the veterans are likely to be charged about £500 per person for their families – about six months’ pension – to apply for a visa, which is supposed to be free.
Some have been told to pay money later refunded in Britain as “cashback”.
The Ministry of Justice is investigating the association’s fees taken from many of the estimated 1,500 Gurkhas who have come here since May. The sums involved run into thousands.
The association is registered as a company and its accounts show its income rocketed from “nil” in 2007 to £86,988 in 2008.
London law firm Howe & Co, which worked with GAESO and Joanna on the campaign, has claimed more than £1million in legal aid for advice to Gurkhas in Nepal, where they use GAESO’s office.
Partner Martin Howe – who confirmed the Legal Services Commission was investigating – said: “We have never taken a penny from any Gurkha or from GAESO.”
At GAESO’s Aldershot office, worker Dhanpal Rai was dealing with complaints from two dozen Gurkhas about money and housing.
He said: “We ask for donations from people we help, but only what they can afford. We also help people free. The money goes to fighting for equality for the Gurkhas.”
Veterans Minister Kevan Jones said: “It makes me angry to see people travelling thousands of miles and getting thousands of pounds into debt. Some are young men with dependent children and have managed to find work.
“But many are pensioners with poor English and adult children who do not automatically qualify for visas. All have been told they will be given a home, car, cash and jobs.”
The UK has set up an office in Nepal to help the Gurkhas.
By Susie Boniface, Source: www.mirror.co.uk
0 comments:
Post a Comment