BGWS PENSION CAMPAIGN - 3rd OPEN MEETING - SUN 28 FEB 10 AT 1230 HRS

Dear all
As agreed by all Committee Members present at the Emergency Committee Meeting held on Sunday 24 January 2010, the BGWS will hold a 3rd Open Meeting on Sunday 28 Feb 2010 to be held at Oak Farm Community School, Farnborough commencing at 1230 hrs sharp.

The meeting is open to one and all Gurkhas, ex Gurkhas and Nepalese organisations and well wishers. The Chairman will provide update on our Judicial Review appeal, current situation, update state of Litigation fund and the way ahead. List of contributors and expenditures of Litigation fund will be displayed for public viewing.

This is a golden opportunity to understand our pension case. If anyone is still unclear, please attend.

Committee Members – Please confirm your attendance to Mr Shyramprakash soonest.

As usual, members are requested to turn up wearing our tie.

Regards

Chhatra Rai
Gen Sec
British Gurkha Welfare Society (BGWS),


Gurkhas Injustice Continues - 11 January 2010.

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.”

Notes to Editors

01.The British Gurkha Welfare Society (BGWS) is the largest organisation of Gurkhas now settled in UK with their families. It also has several thousand members in Nepal. Since its inception in 2004, BGWS has been in the forefront of Gurkha campaigns towards equality, settlement rights and equal pension for all ex-British Gurkhas.

02.The BGWS campaign for future equal monthly pension payments for all Gurkhas to their British counterparts has already received strong cross-party support with 90 signatures on Early Day Motion (EDM) 1726 entitled Gurkha Pensions. The EDM reads as follows: “That this House welcomes the residency rights given to former Gurkha soldiers; notes that the British public united unanimously behind the Gurkhas in their campaign for equality of treatment with fellow British soldiers; further notes with concern that one area of inequality still remains relating to Gurkhas who have protected the interests of the United Kingdom by serving prior to 1997, but still do not receive a fair pension equal to their fellow British Army soldiers with the same service; recognises that Gurkhas who retired from the Army prior to 1997 receive a pension settlement between as little as 1/6th or 1/8th of that of the UK soldiers they served alongside; acknowledges that the British Gurkha Welfare Society is not demanding the backdating of any pension payments, nor any further retrospective grants such as receiving a terminal gratuity payment equal to that which British counterparts have received; further acknowledges that they are simply asking for Gurkhas to be treated as equals by the British Government by ensuring that all Gurkhas, regardless of when they served, receive from this point onwards a fair pension, equal to fellow British Army soldiers with the same service; and calls on the Government to consider giving all Gurkhas an equal and fair pension in the future”.

03.The MoD claims that as Gurkhas retire earlier, their current monthly payment are lower to their UK counterparts as they are expected to work to supplement their pension. First, employment opportunities for British Gurkha soldiers in Nepal are few and far between, so those who did not seek employment overseas were rarely able to supplement their pension. Second, the majority of Gurkhas in this group of 36,000 are now becoming increasingly old and fragile. The majority of retired Gurkhas in this group do not therefore have the same option as the younger veterans who are able to find employment as private security contractors in war-ravaged countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo, thereby risking their lives to augment their insufficient incomes. The need for veterans to seek a supplementary income shows that it is a fallacy that the Gurkha Pension Scheme pension allows Gurkhas to have an affluent standard of living in Nepal as the UK government claim.

04.References to the figures used in the above are taken from: Hansard 19 Jun 2009: Column 512W. Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of up-rating the future pensions of Gurkha ex-servicemen who retired prior to 1 July 1997 to the amount received by their UK equivalents. [280987]

Mr. Kevan Jones: Government policy is not to implement improvements to pensions and similar benefits retrospectively, a policy that is applied across the public sector in the United Kingdom. However, it has been estimated that to pay retrospective pensions to Gurkhas would cost MOD £1.5 billion over 20 years.

Hansard 19 Jun 2009: Column 547W. Damian Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on public expenditure of the admission to the UK of 36,000 Gurkhas residents. [275904]

Mr. Byrne: The Government's position on settlement rights for Gurkhas who served in the Brigade of Gurkhas before July 1997 was set out in the Home Secretary's statement to the House on 21 May 2009. On the basis that 36,000 Gurkhas plus their dependants settled in the United Kingdom, the Government estimated that the annual cost would be approximately £1.4 billion. On the basis that 10,000 to 15,000 applicants plus their dependants settle in the UK, the Government estimate that the costs are likely to be £300 million to £400 million a year. This does not take into account the potential revenue from national insurance contributions, income tax or indirect taxes.

05.For a full briefing and more information on the Gurkha pension issues, please contact Gurkha Bhawan, Tel: 0125 2510794 or 07899858191, email:hulaksewa@yahoo.com

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