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FOR EMPIRE AND FRIENDS: NEPALI GURKHAS IN BRITAIN

By Govinda Pariyar

London, March 18- It is seven in the morning at Woolwich Park in southeast London where some elderly Nepalis, with their signature Nepali Dhaka topis on their heads, are talking.

The wide-screen television in the middle of the park has the London Olympics Games flashes running. But the government television rarely catches the eyes of Karna Bahadur Pun. The 71-year-old from Devisthan in Myagdi is busy chatting with his friend Rup Singh Gurung who is from Pokhara in Kaski.

For Pun and Gurung, who came to London a year and half ago under the provisions of residency for former British Gurkha soldiers and for many former Gurkhas like them living in the Woolwich and Plumstead areas, the park is where their day starts and where most of their time is spent.

Tritha Kumari Gurung at Woolwich Park “This park has become like a village chautari (meeting point) for us,” shares Gurung. “Staying in the room the whole day gets tedious. So we come here and share our happiness and sorrows with each other.”

After the British Government approved permanent residency or Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) to former soldiers of the British Brigade of Gurkhas, nearly 700 former Gurkhas, most of who are above 60 years of age, have settled in the Woolwich and Plumstead areas, among other places.

“This part mostly has our kin (“dauntari”), Pun says.

The former Gurkhas who joined the British Army at their tender age and earned recognition as Bir Gorkhali (Brave Gurkhas) are currently passing their last days in Britain since the government policy changed and approved to give them ILR.

“I joined the British Army when I was 18 and returned to Nepal after 15 years of active service,” recalls Gurung. “Then three decades later, I had to come back here again.”

Unfamiliar language, culture and being away from friends and families left behind in Nepal, most of the aging former Gurkhas are not happy with their life in Britain.

“Back in our villages, we lived respectful life for having served as brave Gurkha soldiers. Here, we don’t even understand the language, and the culture is so different,” shares Gurung. “If the pension we get by being here were given in Nepal, we would immediately return to our own country.”

The British Government gives a grant of 500 to 1,000 Pounds per month to a former Gurkha for rent and food according to his former position in the army, his service duration and type of pension.

The amount is four times less than the minimum income index set by the British Government, and the law comes into effect from today.

Rup Singh Gurung The former Gurkhas say that because Britain has not provided them with enough allowances, life has become more difficult.

“If the room rent is 350 Pounds, they sanction only 250,” says Pun. “As they cut down on even basic expenditures, we’re forced to live a very low-cost and low-quality life.”

The negligible monthly allowance paired with language problem has made their life in the United Kingdom very hard. According to the Gurkha Ex-Army Servicemen’s Organisation’s (GAESO) records, after the British government introduced the permanent residency policy, 10,000 former Gurkha soldiers have settled in Britain.

The policy allows ex-Gurkha soldiers, their spouses and children below 18 years of age to settle in Britain. But most former Gurkhas who live in London have crossed 50 years of age. In addition, due to their inability to speak and understand English, they have problems even while shopping for daily necessities.

“We weren’t taught English when we were in army, only Roman Nepali,” Gurung says. “Now, because of the language barrier, it’s hard to purchase stuffs despite having money.”

Tirtha Kumari Gurung, formerly of Sardi Khola in Kaski, also says that she does not enjoy her life here at all.

“We spent so much to come here, thinking this place would be amazing,” she says. “But I’m fed up with this place already.”

She too says that she would return home if the amount they got in Britain was given to them in Nepal instead. “Neither do you understand anything they say here nor do you get to meet your kins here,” she says with a sad face.

Most Gurkhas who came to Britain as ex-servicemen have settled in Woolwich, Aldershot, and Plumstead.

Prem Bahadur Gurung The language problem is most serious when they fall ill, they say. They get free health checkups from the National Health Service (NHS) like all British citizens. But because there are no translators at the NHS, most say they have not had proper health checkups.

“People from other nations who’ve come to England under similar provision like ours have their own translators at the NHS,” says Prem Bahadur Gurung, another former Gurkha living in Plumstead. “Because Nepalis don’t have that facility and most don’t speak English, it’s been a problem during treatment.”

He adds that many go to Nepal if they get sick. Besides their inability to communicate their health problems to the physicians, they are also troubled due to the slow procedure during NHS health checkups.

“It takes at least a week to get treatment at the NHS,” says Prem Bahadur. “A week is a long time for an ill patient. But if you pay money and shift to the paying section, then the treatment, it seems, is done more quickly.”

To control the number of immigrants, Britain’s new policy that comes into effect from today will terminate the visa of immigrants who have had annual income of less than 35,000 Pounds and deport them back to their country.

The policy will take its toll on many Nepali students, workers and businessmen staying in Britain with temporary work permits under Tier II. However, though the policy will not affect former Gurkha soldiers, they will have to live with much less allowances than the government’s stated minimum earning benchmark.

The British Government has been providing the Gurkhas an allowance of 6,000 to 10,000 Pounds annually which, however, is four times less than the annual income considered the threshold point in Britain.

Immigrant policy was made stricter since the Conservative Party’s David Cameron-led government came to power in 2010. Prime Minister Cameron has already announced that only those who have an annual income more than 35,000 Pounds can reside permanently through British work permit visa.

On their part, the former Gurkha army servicemen have filed a case in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva demanding equal pension at par with British soldiers.

They also demand permit to bring their children along with them during their residency in Britain.

“We were once ready to sacrifice our lives under the British flag,” says Prem Bahadur. “So we should have equal facilities and services. We shouldn’t be separated from our children and should have the right to live together.”

Karna Bahadur Pun No proper provisions for British Gurkha funerals

In case of deaths in the former Gurkha soldiers’ community, they are faced with a big problem as to where they can perform funeral rites.

Last March, when Puni Maya Pun, formerly of Banskharka in Myagdi, passed away, her kith and kin had to wait for two days for her funeral. Finally, they took her body to a place 100km from Woolwich, to conduct her last rites.

“The funeral got delayed while looking for a cremation ground,” says Karna Bahadur. “Moreover; it also took time to collect enough money for the funeral.”

In Britain, there is a strict code for carrying and managing the dead. According to the standards set by the government, funeral and cremation are very expensive. But because the government does not provide extra money for funerals, most face financial problems for the deceased’s last rites.

“It cost us 2,000 Pounds to carry out the funeral of Puni Maya,” says Karna Bahadur. “Only after collecting donation from 300 people we could manage her funeral.”

Govinda Pariyar is an award winning investigative journalist.