The judicial review brought against the Ministry of Defence by the British Gurkha Welfare Society in the High Court on 27 October 2009, has today announced its verdict, finding that that the Pension arrangements for Gurkhas do not breach the Human Rights Act and that even though the Ministry of Defence did not undertake an equality risk assessment before the new pensions arrangements were introduced, there was no breach by them of the equality duty. This leaves many Gurkhas disillusioned and disappointed that discrimination will continue against veterans who served in the British Army prior to July 1997.
The British Gurkha Welfare Society vowed to fight on, notwithstanding this blow, and intend taking the matter to the highest court they can.
A small but significant group of Gurkhas who retired prior to 1997 do not receive a monthly pension at all, or receive a much lower payment to that of a similar ranking UK or UK Commonwealth soldiers they served alongside.
Whereas Gurkhas who are currently serving receive an equal monthly pension payment to their UK counterparts, about 24,000 Gurkhas (and their dependants) who served in the Army before 1997 receive an inferior monthly pension equating to about a third of that received by their UK counterparts. Worse still, it is estimated that about 7,000 Gurkha veterans who served for less than 15 years receive no pension at all and around 5,000 veterans and widows currently rely heavily on charity from the Gurkha Welfare Scheme to survive.
Now that the Gurkhas have lost their court case, many will be disillusioned into believing that UK residency is the only option to receive fair treatment financially. Military charities and welfare groups already have "grave concerns" about their ability to cope with the number of former Gurkhas coming to them for assistance. Recent reports estimate that up to 12,000 Gurkhas may apply for UK residency over the next three years and will need financial help to settle in the UK.
Most of this increasingly vulnerable age group would rather remain in Nepal with the dignity that an equal pension would give them. The British Gurkha Welfare Society is only calling for equal future pensions, which would total an average sum of £5,000 a year, dependent on rank and service. Whilst a small figure for the UK, it would be sufficient to live in Nepal, without relying on charity.
The British Gurkha Welfare Society General Secretary Chhatra Rai, said:“It is very regrettable that the Gurkhas were yet again forced to take the British government to court and disappointing that we did not win the case, though we have understood that this was not likley to be the end of the road.
“The approach of MoD makes no sense since it is clear that considerable cost savings could be made if Gurkhas would feel less pressure to settle in the UK as this would also put less pressure on the British welfare system.
“Improving our pension is a no brainer as the maths is easy to do. The Ministry of Defence estimates the cost of putting in place future equal monthly pension payments to this group of Gurkhas at costing the UK Government £75 million a year. However, the government has estimated that the settlement policy will cost between £300-£400 million a year in welfare and healthcare provision for veterans and dependents moving to the UK.
“Notwithstanding the savings that could be made by increasing the future monthly pension payments for Gurkhas – this is above all a moral issue as the majority of Gurkha veterans in this group are now becoming increasingly old and fragile and do not have the level of English necessary to find a job. Most of these Gurkhas are therefore not able to work in their old age to supplement their pension.”
George Howarth, Labour MP and primary sponsor of a parliamentary motion that support an improved Gurkha pension said:
“The fact that this small but significant group of veterans are still discriminated against shows that there is still more to do to ensure that the Gurkhas are treated properly and fairly.”
Ann Widdecombe, Conservative MP and long time champion of the Gurkhas:
“The Gurkhas have always been an integral part of the British Armed Forces, fighting the same wars and carrying out the same duties as British soldiers. It is an injustice to give these veterans a pension based on their country of origin instead of the country in whose Army they loyally served.”