KATHMANDU, JUNE 8
British Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation (BGAESO), Singapore Gurkhas Department, has demanded equal payment and perks for Gurkhas serving in Singapore.
Chair of BGAESO-SGD Padma Sundar Limbu said at a press conference here today that police personnel for Singapore were being recruited by the British government, but the latter was neither providing equal payment and perks nor providing right to settlement in the UK.
"We are recruited in Nepal by the British authorities and taken to Singapore to work.
It's a kind of human trafficking,"
Limbu said, adding that Gurkhas serving in various institutions of Singapore government did not get payment and perks equal to Singaporean counterparts and they faced discrimination in post-retirement benefits and pension. They said the widows of Gurkhas serving in Singapore were not provided any pension and thus they were facing discrimination.
He said British Gurkhas were getting 80 per cent benefits after a struggle, including the right to settle in the UK, but Gurkhas working in Singapore were not getting anything compared to what Gurkhas get in the UK. British Gurkhas also complain that they are being discriminated in payment and perks and post-retirement benefits compared to their British counterparts.
Limbu said that if their concerns were not addressed, they would stage protest from June 17.
Adviser to BGAESO-SGD Om Gurung said the Government of Nepal was not paying any attention to the discrimination faced by Gurkhas working in Singapore. He said the Government of Nepal should make diplomatic efforts to address the concerns of Gurkhas working in Singapore.
Foreign policy analyst Hiranya Lal Shrestha said the United Kingdom had treated Gurkhas working in Singapore as a resalable commodity and that should stop.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 9, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
