A NIGHTCLUB in the UK has banned Fiji British Army soldiers following a series of incidents.
The ban was imposed after an incident in September when 16 Fijian soldiers were evicted from The Chapel, on Milford Street in Bristol for spitting at bar staff and groping women.
The Salisbury Journal reports Lance Bombardier Waisake Waqa, who has been in the British Army for five years returned from Afghanistan for a two-week break and he was turned away when he tried to enter the pub. His girlfriend Emily Borelli, 21, said the ban was unfair.
"I understand there has been some trouble in the past but my boyfriend has never been involved," she said. "It seems very unfair to have a blanket ban on a whole nation. These are serving members of the Army, they are heroes for fighting in Afghanistan but they are not allowed to go to their local nightclub. A ban on the grounds of nationality seems very wrong." She said they queued up at The Chapel on Saturday when L/Bmdr Waqa was refused entry.
"The doorman just stopped him coming in. I tried to argue but they wouldn't let him in. There are no notices up saying this is the policy. There are a lot of Jamaicans and boys from St Vincent in Waisake's regiment and they're allowed in.
"I won't be going in there while the ban is in place. Waisake is back in Afghanistan now but was very upset about it."
The Chapel owner, Jonty Newbery, said there had been cases of bad behaviour by Fijian soldiers over a period of six years and this is the third time such a ban has been put in place.
"It's a case of a handful ruining it for everybody else," he said.
"In this case, the soldiers had drunk too much and their behaviour was totally unacceptable.
"It took 10 door staff and six police officers to get them out of the club.
"This is nothing to do with racism. It is simply to ensure public safety and to ensure this is not repeated.
"We have another 400 people who are barred from the club. We would do exactly the same if soldiers from other regiments were not well behaved."
Mr Newbery said he had not realised until being contacted by the Journal that there was not a specific Fijian regiment and, following talks with the police, the ban will now only be applied to those involved in the September incident.
