Gurkhas arriving in UK without jobs or money, say charities

LONDON - Retired Gurkha soldiers are turning up to settle in Britain without money, jobs or accommodation, and need urgent financial help, British charities say.

Military charities say they have “grave concerns” about their ability to cope with requests for help from former Nepali Gurkha soldiers who have arrived here following a government ruling last year that Gurkhas who retired from the British Army before 1997 could settle in Britain.

According to the Army Benevolent Fund, up to 12,000 Gurkhas may apply for British residency over the next three years and will need finances to help them settle down.

It estimates that new arrivals will need about 2,000 pounds per household to set themselves up with accommodation, basic furniture, and appliances - a total of 24 million pounds for 12,000 families.

Director of Welfare Paul Cummings told the BBC that in the two-week period before Christmas, 12 families came to the charity for help.

“They will arrive from an aircraft, they’ll probably have two suitcases and no more. They’re going to need everything to set up home,” he said.

Cummings said the Gurkhas he has seen have not been to a British Ministry of Defence centre in Kathmandu, where applicants are briefed about life in Britain.

“Having not been through any preparation in Nepal prior to arrival, they’re coming here with no resources to back them up and no means of sustaining themselves,” he said.

“It is an issue of grave concern.”

The defence ministry said it offers advice on housing and jobs, and help to any who fall through the “safety net.”

Hugh Milroy, chief executive of Veterans Aid, Britain’s leading charity dealing with former members of the forces who become homeless, said he met a Gurkha ex-soldier in the street outside his office in central London.

“He literally hadn’t eaten. He’d been in the country five days and he was struggling already,” Milroy said.

“There are no houses and even if we’ve put them in a house, it’s about your physical, psychological and financial ability to sustain that house,” Milroy added.

The BBC said one of the recent settlers, 64-year-old Unmansingh Gurung, had taken out a 1,800-pound loan to pay for a visa and flights, but has yet to receive any of the social benefits that retired people in Britain are entitled to.

The Army Benevolent Fund has given him 800 pounds for food and rent.

“I was a farmer in Nepal, it was hard, I didn’t have enough money. I feel very bad to be separated from my family, but it’s the only choice,” Gurung said.