The Lawyer representing the eight Fijian Commonwealth Veterans in a pending group legal action has had success in several similar cases.

Vinita Templeton says taking on the class action case against the UK government that alleges a systemic failure to assist Commonwealth service personnel with their immigration stemmed from having a number of individual cases.

“That we have a lot of data, a lot of evidence that we have compiled over a period of about a year that I feel, that we feel strongly enough to be able to lodge this legal action for this group of clients so this is where we are at.”

Templeton says in addition to the eight claimants, there are possibly hundreds more from the 54 Commonwealth countries that may have been disadvantaged.

Meanwhile, an organization set up last year to primarily assist with this issue, the Commonwealth Neglected Veterans says they are reaching out to others to come forward.

Group member Esita Tamanu says a number of Fijians faced these issues with their immigration status in limbo.

“There are some veterans and their families that have returned home to Fiji because of the fact that they simply cannot afford the cost of visas to extend or to normalize their status.”

The case is currently in the pre-action protocol phase with the UK government expected to respond by the 25th of March.