THE UK Government should “urgently” establish a Ukraine-style visa for Gaza citizens with family in the UK, MPs have told Keir Starmer.
Dozens of Westminster parliamentarians wrote to the Prime Minister over the issue, including two SNP MPs.
Sky News reports that 67 MPs and Lords from across the political spectrum asked Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to create a “Gaza Family scheme”.
They argued it should be set up to "reunite [Palestinians] with their loved ones in the UK until it is safe to return".
The letter adds: "Just as the UK opened its doors to those fleeing persecution in Ukraine and Hong Kong, we believe that the same generosity should be extended to Palestinian families.”
In 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the UK opened the Ukraine Family Scheme to allow Ukrainian nationals to join family members in the UK, allowing them to live, work and study in the country for up to three years.
Applications for the scheme closed in February 2024.
The UK also opened a British National (Overseas) visa that allowed Hong Kong citizens to come to the UK after China imposed strict national security laws, allowing them to live in the country for five years and then apply for British citizenship.
The politicians told the PM, in a letter sent on Sunday, that they had "grave concern at the immense suffering inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza".
They added that Israel was guilty of "shattering the temporary ceasefire agreement", intensifying its “campaign of bombardment and military assaults, and targeting of people accessing humanitarian aid,” and weaponising starvation.
SNP MPs Graham Leadbitter and Brendan O’Hara (above), joined independents Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, all four Green MPs, LibDems Tim Farron and Layla Moran, and several Northern Ireland MPs in signing the letter.
It adds that allowing a visa scheme for Gazans would allow Palestinians to reunite with their families - "people they may never see again unless urgent action is taken".
The MPs added that some Gazans who have attempted to come to the UK have “struggled to navigate the immigration system”, particularly the biometrics they are required to provide which has been made “impossible” by the destruction of the visa application centre in Gaza and blocked at the Rafah crossing.
The letter also notes the lack of safe zones or ways out of Gaza, with MPs stating some constituents have family members who managed to flee Gaza to Egypt but have been “stuck in limbo”.
Marsha de Cordova, Labour MP for Battersea, helped organise the letter with the Gaza Families Reunited.
She told Sky News: "The Ukrainian Family Visa Scheme was the right response to a brutal war.
"Establishing a Gaza Family Visa Scheme would be an extension of those same principles, showing that this government is steadfast in its commitment to helping families experiencing the worst horrors of war.
"It is time for the government to act now to help British Palestinians get their loved ones to safety, enabling them to rebuild their lives."
Ghassan Ghaban, spokesperson for Gaza Families Reunited, said that Labour in opposition urged the Tory government to do more to help British Palestinians help get their families to safety, adding that there are only a “small number” who are impacted.
"We are still waiting for the new government to do the right thing," he said.
"We, as Palestinians in the UK, simply want the opportunity to bring our loved ones from Gaza to safety, until it is safe to return.
"The UK welcomed those fleeing war and persecution in Ukraine and Hong Kong with open arms. All we are asking for is the same treatment to be extended to our family members who have experienced unimaginable trauma as a result of Israel's genocide in Gaza.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: "The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable.
"Since day one, we have been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability.
"There are a range of routes available for Palestinians who wish to join family members in the UK."
