Last September, I blogged about the High Court test case won by a group of retired Gurkhas, giving them the right of settlement in the UK. In the wake of the court’s decision, the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, confirmed that she would, by the end of the year, review her Department’s criteria for considering applications by Gurkhas to remain in the country.
The review proceeded at snail’s pace. In fact, it was never completed. Nor did the Home Secretary complete the review of some 1,000 outstanding settlement claims.
Today, the Gurkhas went back to court seeking to enforce September’s ruling. Their QC told the judge that the Home Secretary has now agreed to make a statement to Parliament within three weeks setting out her policy on the Gurkhas’ right to remain.
Sadly, some Gurkhas have died waiting for the Home Secretary’s decision. The most recent was Rifleman Prem Bahadur Pun, on March 15. A document put before the court makes extremely distressing reading:
“It appears that his death – as well as being deprived of cheap modern drugs to bring him comfort in his final months – is linked to the Secretary of State’s failure to comply with her assurances to publish the policy and complete the reconsideration of over 1,000 stayed cases by December 30 2008.”
When the court made its ruling last year, one might have expected the Home Office, above all departments, to do its utmost to fulfil its undertaking to publish its policy and complete its consideration of the outstanding cases.
It is hard to think of anything that could reflect more discredit on the Government. There is a huge fund of goodwill for the Gurkhas among the people of this country. They are the staunchest, most loyal friends we have anywhere in the world. They have been badly let down.
The Government should be thoroughly ashamed that it has had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, back to court before it would finally get round to honouring its legal and moral obligations to these brave, decent people.
