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The Gurkha Justice Campaign is a campaign group in the United Kingdom fighting for the rights of the Gurkhas. It wants the Gurkhas who fought for the UK to gain the same rights as their British and Commonwealth counterparts. Essentially the group wants the law to be changed so that all Gurkhas who fought for the UK will gain a right of abode, whereas under previous legislation they only had a right of abode if they retired after 1997. They took their case to the high court, and have the support of a number of celebrities including perhaps most famously Joanna Lumley. ==Background== Until 2004 Gurkhas were not allowed to settle in the United Kingdom. However, the Labour government under Tony Blair changed the rules so that Gurkhas who retired after 1997 would be allowed to settle in the UK, 1997 being the date when the Gurkha Brigade headquarters moved from Hong Kong to Britain. Soldiers who retired before this date, however, were only allowed the same settlement rights in exceptional circumstance. The Gurkha Justice Campaign wanted the same settlement rights for all Gurkha soldiers. In 2008, the high court ruled that the policy had been illegal since the process used to determine pre-1997 applications was deemed arbitrary. The Government of Gordon Brown agreed to produce new rules. However, when these were unveiled on 24 April 2009, the Gurkhas were furious because there was no automatic right to settle in the UK for all veterans.〔 Indeed, Gurkhas who wanted to settle in the UK would have to meet one or more of five requirements.〔 These were; *Three years continuous residence in the UK during or after service *Close family in the UK *A bravery award of level one to three *Service of 20 years or more in the Gurkha brigade *Chronic or long-term medical condition caused or aggravated by service Campaigners claimed that under the rules, only around 100 Gurkhas would qualify for residence, although the government figures suggested that as many as 4,300 would be eligible to settle.〔 The rules would disqualify many from being able to settle in the United Kingdom, as indicated by an article which appeared in ''The Economist'':
The campaign is also supported by the Liberal Democrats. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gurkha Justice Campaign」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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