The Strategic Utility of a People: From Hong Kong to the UK

I recently discovered a photograph in my old hard drive from 21 years ago. It captures a moment in Folkestone in 2005, where I was speaking as the General Secretary of the BNO Gurkha Association UK. Looking at it now, I am struck by a difficult realisation: we Nepalese have often been "reactive" rather than "proactive"—followers rather than leaders.

The history of the BNO (British National Overseas) Nepalese is a story of strategic silence. Before 1982, many Nepalese born in Hong Kong had the right to remain there. Yet, they were sent back to Nepal with their bundles and belongings, unaware of their full rights. Later, when Hong Kong needed cheap, obedient, and English-speaking manual labor to build the new airport, those same people were summoned back. The empire found in them exactly what it needed: a hardworking workforce that didn't ask too many questions.

The British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 was supposed to offer BNOs a path to full British citizenship. However, the information was never widely shared with the Nepalese community. Those "in the know" moved to the UK quietly years ago. It was only after 2003, when the UK needed boots on the ground for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that BNO youth in Hong Kong were suddenly recruited and brought to the UK to fill the military deficit.

Whenever the Empire needed us, we were used.

By 2005, thousands of us were in the UK, many living under the shadow of "illegal" status despite our BNO heritage. It was through the formation of the BNO Gurkha Association UK that we fought for the proper implementation of the 1997 Act. We successfully established our rights and secured our place as full British citizens. This photo is a reminder of that struggle—a moment when we stopped being followers and started demanding the recognition we had earned.