Home Office makes special arrangements to bring Gaza students to UK - subject to Israeli approval

Some of the students are recipients of Chevening scholarships, which are offered to international students to study one-year master's degrees in the UK in recognition of their strong leadership potential.

But the Israeli government still needs to agree for each individual student to leave Gaza. No students have been allowed to leave Gaza to study in the UK since the war began in 2023.

Around 40 students have been approved for support to come to the UK, the BBC reported.

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It comes after months of campaigning by politicians and academics on behalf of more than 80 Palestinians in Gaza who hold offers from UK universities.

They haven’t been able to come to the UK to begin their courses, most of which start in September, because of several logistical hurdles - including biometric checks - they have to pass to obtain a student visa.

Applicants for a UK visa have to provide a photo of their face and a copy of their fingerprints to qualify. The UK had an authorised facility in Gaza that was capable of processing biometric data, but this was closed in October 2023.

This means students need to travel to neighbouring countries to carry out the checks, but Israel's blockade on the enclave has made this impossible.

The Home Office has now agreed special arrangements for a cohort of students to have their biometric checks carried out in third countries, so they can meet the requirements for a visa.

As part of the campaign to allow the students to come to the UK to study, dozens of Labour MPs urged the government to defer the biometric requirement, arguing that the checks will take too long for students to begin their courses which start in a few weeks.

Led by Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Barry Gardiner, more than 70 MPs signed a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper asking the government to “open a safe passage to enable these young people to fulfil their academic dreams".

The MPs said the process of leaving Gaza for university has become “all but impossible” amid Israel’s escalating offensive on the Strip.

"Even before the war, leaving Gaza to pursue higher education was a complex process,” they wrote.

“The ongoing siege and restrictions made travel extremely difficult, but in the current state of constant bombardment, shootings at aid sites, and an IPC-declared famine, this process has become all but impossible."

In a more strongly worded email to MPs asking them to sign the letter, Ms Mohamed and Mr Gardiner wrote: "Unless the government makes rapid progress with offering visas and coordinating evacuations over the next week, students who should be starting university next month in the UK will be among those who are being shot dead at aid sites, bombed in displacement camps, or starving as famine spreads deeper in Gaza."

A Home Office source said: "This remains a complex and challenging task, but the Home Secretary has made it crystal clear to her officials that she wants no-stone unturned in efforts to ensure there are arrangements in place to allow this cohort of talented students to take up their places at UK universities as soon as possible."

Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine posted on X: "I could've cried this morning at the news that the Foreign Office is allowing 50 students from Gaza to come to UK. Our universities - including Edinburgh - offers them the opportunity to change their lives and help rebuild their communities."

The Government is also working to bring sick and injured children from Gaza to the UK for urgent medical treatment.

More than 50,000 children are estimated to have been killed or injured in Gaza since October 2023, according to Unicef.

A small number of children have so far been brought to the UK for specialist medical care via an initiative by Project Pure Hope, and they are being treated privately.