Pressure is mounting on the UK government to intervene on behalf of 40 students in Gaza who have been offered full scholarships to study at British universities but are unable to travel due to a biometric data requirement. The UK-authorised biometrics registration centre in Gaza closed in October 2023, leaving students with no way to complete their visa applications.
Campaigners are calling for a biometrics deferral and assistance to reach a third country where they can finalise their visas. A high-level meeting took place at the Home Office on Tuesday after MPs highlighted the students' plight. Some students are reported to have been killed while waiting, and others remain in constant danger.
Dr Nora Parr of Birmingham University, who supports the students, noted that Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany and Italy have already helped evacuate students with university places. 'The students who studied, took TOEFL tests, wrote admissions essays and did virtual campus interviews under the most horrendous conditions must now wait for a government decision,' she said.
The University and College Union (UCU) urged Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to 'expedite the process' in a letter from general secretary Jo Grady. The students, including doctors and midwives, hold places at about 30 universities including Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Edinburgh and University College London, studying subjects such as dental public health and genomic medicine.
Soha, 31, a midwife hoping to study for a PhD at the University of Ulster, said: 'As a midwife living and working in Gaza, I have witnessed the unimaginable. We need them to be faster making the decisions. Give us the biometric waiver and facilitate our safe passage.'
Abtisam Mohamed, Labour MP for Sheffield Central and co-chair of the APPG for international students, stated: 'Gaza's education system has been all but obliterated. Ireland, France and Belgium have acted to ensure their students can reach safety; the UK has not. This is not hypothetical; some students have already been killed while waiting.'
