All Gurkha soldiers and their families demand the right to permanent settlement in the UK, also known as the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILE), without the imposition of any arbitrary cut-off date. Current Ministry of Defence and Home Office practice is that Gurkhas and their families who retired on or prior to 1 July 1997 are allowed to enter the UK, barring a few arbitrary exceptions. This denies a large number of ex-British Gurhas the basic right of residence in and citizenship of the country they have served for the duration of their entire professional careers. This cut-off date has no rationale. It has no any legal, moral or juridical meaning. It is merely an administrative expediency since this is the date of handover of handover of Hong Kong to China. But the fact of the matter is that the British Gurkhas always remained British Gurkhas no matter what their location and timing of Crown service throughout history. The remaining number of these Gurkhas, if allowed to settle in the UK, will be no more than 20,000.