Friday, May 8, 2009

Lumley in public clash on Gurkhas

Ms Lumley has spearheaded the campaign for Gurkha settlement rights

Joanna Lumley says the immigration minister has "reassured" her over Gurkhas' rights to settle in the UK, in an unscheduled and dramatic meeting.

The actress and Phil Woolas came face-to-face in highly-charged scenes at the BBC's Westminster office and then held an impromptu press conference nearby.

It followed the rejection of appeals by five Gurkhas for residency, rulings which Ms Lumley said were "shocking".

Opposition parties said government policy had become a "shambles".

Extraordinary scenes

Mr Woolas said the cases of the five Gurkhas, one of whom was badly injured during the Falklands War, would be reviewed.

He indicated campaigners and opposition parties would have a say in the formation of new regulations on residency rights, forced by Labour's Commons defeat on the issue last week.

Ms Lumley said: "I have met Mr Woolas now and I am reassured again. Because I know we are going to assist Mr Woolas in making the strongest guidelines possible.

"We have to believe in this. This is all we've got to believe in. We wish this campaign was over now."

But she urged the government to act more quickly, saying the issue could be settled by next week.

The 1,500 Gurkhas whose applications for permanent residence were currently being considered should "be received with open arms", she said.

"There is nothing more to think about and consider," she said, adding that the government had been sending out "blurred messages" about its policy.

Mr Woolas said immigration policy could not "be determined on a whim" and residency rules for Gurkhas had to be considered within a legal framework.

But he said ministers were respecting the will of Parliament in reviewing the regulations, after Labour's recent defeat on the issue, and he believed that the Gurkhas would be "pleased" with the outcome of the review.

The meeting between Ms Lumley and Mr Woolas came about after Ms Lumley arrived at the building in which the BBC studio is based to host a press conference.

As Ms Lumley, who has spearheaded the campaign for Gurkha settlement rights, prepared for her press conference Mr Woolas began a live television interview inside - Ms Lumley stood outside watching.

Once his interview ended the two, surrounded by reporters and television crews, made their way to an office to hold talks.

The BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson said he had rarely seen scenes of such a kind, with Ms Lumley appearing to be leading the government a merry dance on the issue.

Although the meeting had not resulted in a change of policy, it showed just how powerful the Gurkha campaign had become and how crucial Ms Lumley's involvement was.

Rejection letters

The day's events were triggered by letters sent to four Gurkhas informing them that their residency applications had been turned down.

Ms Lumley said the decisions were an "enormous shock", coming a day after she met Gordon Brown and was assured he would deal personally with the row over residency rights.
Some 36,000 Gurkhas, a brigade of Nepalese soldiers who serve in the British Army, were denied UK residency because they left before 1997.

Ms Lumley has long argued for Gurkha soldiers to be granted the the same settlement rights as soldiers from Commonwealth countries who have fought for the UK.

Ministers eased the residency rules for Gurkhas earlier this year after the High Court said its policy was not sufficiently clear.

Under the current rules, ministers argue that more than 4,000 Gurkhas will be able to settle in the UK but campaigners have said the figure will be closer to 100.

However, the rules are to be reviewed again after the government was defeated in a Commons vote on the issue.

The cases of the four Gurkhas were considered under the existing rules and Mr Woolas stressed their request for settlement had not been rejected once and for all.

The UK Border Agency - which considers residency applications - said their cases would be "reconsidered when the next stage of reform has been finalised".

No 10 says it will to publish revised rules by the end of July and consider all existing applications by the end of the month.

'Strong campaign'

Officials point out that more than 100 Gurkhas have been granted rights of settlement in the last few days as the backlog of outstanding cases are dealt with.

Mr Woolas said Ms Lumley and other activists had run a "strong campaign" but denied ministers had been "outmanoeuvred".
However, opposition parties said the rejected applications flew in the face of government commitments to review the system following its embarrassing parliamentary defeat.

Tory leader David Cameron said the "left hand of this government doesn't know what the right hand is doing".

"The prime minister has absolutely got to get a grip on this issue," he told a meeting of party supporters in Derbyshire.

The Lib Dems described the latest rulings as "astonishing".

"At worst this is a betrayal and at best it is a monumental shambles," said its home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne.

Pakistan 'to eliminate militants'

Pakistan's PM says he has ordered the army to "eliminate militants and terrorists", apparently referring to operations against the Taleban.

Yusuf Raza Gilani made the announcement in an evening TV address to the nation.

Fighting has intensified in recent days in the Swat Valley and other parts of the north-west, and thousands of civilians are leaving the area.

Meanwhile US envoy Richard Holbrooke said there had been progress in getting Pakistan and Afghanistan to co-operate.

"I hope the American public sees that we're making progress in the question for real cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, because without that cooperation, success is not achievable," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
Mr Holbrooke was speaking after a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and US senators.

He said another summit would be held between the Afghan and Pakistani leaders and US President Barack Obama after Afghan presidential elections in August. The three leaders met on Wednesday.

Mr Zardari said the international community was coming to the realisation that the problem of militancy in Pakistan and Afghanistan was a worldwide one.

Earlier US defence secretary Robert Gates said he was satisfied with Pakistan's anti-Taleban moves.

He said there was "very little chance" of the Taleban achieving the kind of success in Pakistan that they would need to get access to the country's nuclear weapons.

At least 10 soldiers have been killed and nine wounded in the fighting in the past 24 hours, the Pakistani military says.



At least seven of them were reported to have died when a troop carrier was ambushed near Mingora.

Appeal for help

Mr Gilani said efforts by the militants to disrupt peace and security had reached a point where the government had to take "decisive steps".

"In order to restore honour and dignity of our homeland, and to protect people, the armed forces have been called to eliminate the militants and terrorists," he said.

"The time has come when the entire nation should side with the government and the armed forces against those who want to make the entire country hostage and darken our future at gunpoint," he added.

He also appealed to the international community to help Pakistan look after people displaced by the fighting.

A curfew has been lifted to allow civilians to leave Swat, prompting thousands to flee and join those already in camps or staying with relatives further south.

But around half a million people remain in Mingora, the main town of Swat, where there is no water or electricity.

Residents say at least 24 civilians have lost their lives in the past two days.

Some died when their houses were hit by artillery, while others were reportedly shot for defying a curfew.

The BBC Urdu service's Riffatullah Orakzai says that eyewitnesses in the Kanju area near Mingora have seen militants setting up checkposts on the main roads and not allowing people who want to flee the fighting to pass.

Witnesses say a large number of people, including women and children, are now stranded there.

Resistance to troops

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) says the humanitarian crisis in Pakistan is intensifying.

In a statement the ICRC said that it no longer had access to the areas most affected by the conflict and that precise statistics of the displaced were difficult to ascertain.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says troops moving into Swat face resistance all along the 40km (25-mile) road that heads in a north-easterly direction from Malakand to Mingora.

Our correspondent says that fighting has not only erupted in several areas around Mingora, but there are also reports of more clashes in the neighbouring area of Buner.

In another incident, militants overran a paramilitary fort in the Chakdara area of Lower Dir, officials say.

Three paramilitary soldiers were killed in the attack and 10 policemen were taken away as hostages.

Delhi 'passes poll turnout test'

Voter awareness campaigns in India's capital, Delhi, appear to have had some success, with turnout on Thursday up on the last election.

Delhi's turnout was 53%, six points up on 2004, the Election Commission said.

A series of adverts had urged citizens to vote following Mumbai's disappointing 43% last week.

Overall turnout for Thursday in Delhi and seven states that also voted was about 57%. Counting in the marathon five-phase election is on 16 May.

The main fight is between the ruling Congress-led coalition and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Neither is expected to win outright and the role of smaller regional parties may be key.

'Satisfactory'

Deputy election commissioner R Balakrishnan said: "Comparing the previous three phases, the commission marked that the voter turnout is more.
"Polling was by and large peaceful barring a few stray incidents of violence, particularly in West Bengal. The commission would like to define Thursday's poll process as satisfactory."

The capital's pro-vote campaign included adverts on television, radio and in the press, setting Delhi a turnout test.

Citizens groups and activists also joined the campaign with candlelit marches and signature campaigns.

The drive appeared to have had most success in upscale and middle-class districts. They scored a higher turnout than rural areas that traditionally have heavier balloting.

Delhi has more than 10 million registered voters but over the years, voter turnout has been steadily declining - in 1993 it was 65.7%; in 1998 it came down to 49% and in the 2007 civic elections it was 43%.

West Bengal recorded the highest turnout on Thursday at 75%, followed by Punjab (65%), Haryana (63%), Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (both 50%) and Bihar (37%).

Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir was lowest at 24% amid an election boycott call by separatists who argue the election legitimises Indian rule.

However, the turnout was higher than the 18% in 2004.

There were a number of incidents of violence on Thursday.

The worst were in West Bengal, where two people were killed and more than 15 injured in three separate clashes between rival supporters.

The first phase of voting on 16 April was the most violent - with at least 17 people killed in Maoist attacks in eastern and central India.

The new parliament has to be constituted by 2 June.