Gurkhas march on Downing Street to demand right to settle in UK ahead of High Court battle
Gurkha veterans marched on Downing Street yesterday to demand justice from the Prime Minister.
The ex-soldiers handed over a 27,668-signature petition calling for the right to live in Britain.
A landmark test case will be heard at the High Court today to decide if they should be granted the right to settle here.
Protest: Dozens of Gurkhas marched from Parliament Square to Downing Street protesting against the Government's refusal to permit them to settle and work in Britain
Almost 50,000 Gurkhas have died fighting for Britain since 1815 and 150,000 have been seriously injured while serving.
Gurkhas are received at Downing Street before handing in their petition
Yet thousands of veterans who retired after July 1, 1997 have been refused visas and have been forced to live in poverty in their homeland of Nepal.
Hundreds of badly injured soldiers have also been barred from travelling here for treatment.
They include Falklands hero Gyanendra Rai, 52, who was left partially paralysed after an Argentine shell tore open his back in 1982.
He was awarded the South Atlantic Medal for courage, yet Britain will not pay him a proper pension to fund medical treatment in Nepal or allow him to travel here for NHS care.
His case is one of 15 due be heard at the High Court in a two-day hearing this week.
The test cases have been brought on behalf of five Gurkha veterans and several widows and children of the Nepalese soldiers.
