LONDON: Government ministers in the UK are facing renewed pressure to help 40 students in Gaza who were offered full scholarships to study at British universities, The Guardian reported.
The students, however, are unable to take their university places set to begin in September because of government bureaucracy.
The UK Home Office on Tuesday reportedly held a high-level meeting on the issue after MPs and campaigners demanded urgent action to help the students.
They demanded that the government take immediate steps to secure the students’ safe passage to Britain, following warnings that some Palestinians students had been killed while waiting for British university spots.
Others are also in constant danger amid Israel’s military campaign in the enclave.
A key hindrance affecting the students is a Home Office requirement to use biometric data for visa applications, campaigners have said.
The only UK-authorized biometrics center in Gaza closed in October 2023 and the students cannot travel to similar centers in neighboring countries.
Campaigners and MPs are calling on the government to issue a biometrics deferral and help the students navigate a safe route to a third country to complete their visa applications and travel onward to Britain.
Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany and Italy have already helped evacuate students with university positions in their countries, said Dr. Nora Parr, a Birmingham University researcher campaigning for the students.
“The students who studied, took TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) tests, wrote admissions essays and did virtual campus interviews under the most horrendous conditions imaginable — many from tent homes and makeshift Wi-Fi hubs — now must wait for a government decision,” she added.
“To not act is to decide to leave them without these hard-earned educational opportunities.”
Any response is also likely to be shaped by a government immigration white paper released earlier this year that signaled an intention to reduce international student numbers at British universities, Parr said.
“This, combined with the government’s tough stance on immigration, and absence of direct support for Palestine, has left these students in the most dire limbo.”
Among the campaigning group is the University and College Union, which represents 125,000 education workers.
Its general secretary, Jo Grady, urged the home secretary in a letter to “expedite the process” of evacuating the Palestinian students and ensuring “all these young Palestinians make it to our seminar rooms and lecture halls for the start of the academic year.”
The Palestinians students have secured spots at universities including Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Edinburgh and University College London.
They are enrolled in subjects including dental public health, data science and genomic medicine.
One student, Soha, a 31-year-old, is hoping to complete a doctorate in nursing and health research at the University of Ulster.
“As a midwife living and working in Gaza, I have witnessed the unimaginable: mothers giving birth under fire, newborns taking their first breath in shelters, and health professionals struggling to provide care with little more than courage and commitment.”
She told The Guardian: “We need them (the British government) to be faster making the decisions that we are waiting for.
“Give us the biometric waiver that we want and facilitate our safe passage. We are running out of time. I carry with me the hopes of countless women and colleagues back in Gaza. When I return, I plan to lead maternal health research in Palestine.”
A government spokesperson told The Guardian: “We are aware of the students and are considering the request for support.”
