For decades, Nepalese troops have fought in the British army as specialist soldiers and experts in irregular warfare.
Famed for their courage, as well as their razor sharp 'kukri' blades, Gurkha regiments first gained notoriety in the west after inflicting significant casualties on Britain's East India Company during the 1815 invasion of Nepal. They subsequently fought in the trenches of the First World War, and again against the Japanese in the 1940s. Many of them never returned to their homes in Nepal.
In payment of such a debt, the British government has finally permitted veterans of the Gurkha regiments to settle in the UK.
It may seem odd that so much time has passed for such a decision to be made. In 1997, with the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty, Gurkha headquarters was shifted from the island to the British mainland. This was, however, not met with legislation to allow existing soldiers or veterans to live permanently in the UK.
Even Victoria Cross winners such as Lichhiman Guring, 91, and Tul Bahadur Pun, 86 — both of whom were involved in the recent legal battle — fell into this trap, much to the distress of fellow veterans and supporters.
This changed this month when claimants, representing roughly 2000 veterans, brought their case against the UK government in a court of law. All of those involved had been denied the right to settle because they had not developed sufficiently 'strong ties' to Britain. However, this was thrown out by Judge Justice Blake, who summed up his verdict by speaking of the 'moral debt' owed by the British people to the 2000 men.
The decision to allow settlement rights was greeted by a roar of approval from the courtroom. Despite the jubilation, this success still fails to highlight a whole list of other inequalities, some of which veterans have struggled to rectify in recent years.
Historically Gurkhas were allocated a pension six times lower than that of their British counterparts. This was allegedly due to the fact that the cost of living in Nepal was significantly lower than that of the UK.
This was partially mitigated in 2007 when the Ministry of Defence announced that those retiring after 1997 would receive a basic soldier's pension. Unfortunately, this still leaves a large number of veterans wishing to live in Britain out of pocket. This brackets a succession of earlier struggles from