CHARITIES and politicians are calling on the Yvette Cooper to immediately grant visas for 80 Palestinian students trapped in Gaza who have secured fully funded UK university places.
Refugee charity Positive Action in Housing is leading calls for the UK Government to delay biometric checks for the students so they can study in the UK. All 80 are due to begin courses in a matter of weeks.
More than 70 MPs have signed a letter addressed to Cooper, the UK Home Secretary, with the charity saying: "This is life and death."
In order to obtain a UK visa, applicants must provide a photo of their face, as well as their fingerprints.
The UK did have an authorised centre in Gaza that was able to process biometric data, but it was closed in October 2023 after the October 7 Hamas attack, and as Israel's war in response to the atrocity got under way.
Robina Qureshi, CEO of Positive Action in Housing, said: “France, Ireland, Belgium and Germany have already evacuated Palestinian students from Gaza. The UK must follow suit by deferring biometric checks until they arrive, just as was done for Ukrainian refugees.
“These brilliant students have studied through the worst imaginable circumstances. Imagine your home being bombed, your university destroyed, your lecturers killed. And yet they remained focused.
"Gaza has one of the highest numbers of advanced PhDs per capita in the world. We cannot leave them to die behind sealed borders because of red tape. We need to get them out now.
“These students are not refusing to comply – they can’t. The biometric centre was destroyed in 2023. They are living under aerial assault, queuing at bombed aid sites, watching famine spread.
“This is life and death. We cannot resort to bureaucratic excuses."
Qureshi quoted Barry Gardiner, one of the Labour MPs who has signed the letter, who said "these students are the future of Palestine", adding: "Denying them entry is not just cruel – it is a calculated blow to Palestine’s ability to rebuild. It is structural erasure, masked as policy."
Qureshi (above) also issued a direct condemnation of shadow home secretary Chris Philp, who said biometric checks must not be waived.
“Chris Philp effectively wants to sign a death sentence for 80 Palestinian students – but he didn’t say that three years ago when this country waived biometric requirements for Ukrainians in 2022. Why the selective compassion now?
"Any refusal to do so now exposes racist double standards at the heart of British policy.
“You cannot demand compliance with a procedure that is physically impossible under siege, bombardment and famine. These students have only one hope: confirmed university places in the UK. And he wants to take that away?
“Biometric data can be collected post-arrival or in a safe third country like Jordan, but the UK must offer safe passage.
“Philp also implies that one potential security risk is reason enough to block all 80 students. That’s collective punishment. As Barry Gardiner rightly said: ‘You don’t say, “somebody might break the law, so we’re not going to allow anybody to come.”’
Philp had said: "We should not be deferring biometric checks. These are an essential part of our security arrangements, and they should not be waived or delayed until arrival in the UK – by which time it is too late."
The charity further urged people across the UK to write to their MPs and call on the Home Secretary "to do the right thing".
Qureshi added: "Follow the lead of other European governments. Act now, before it’s too late. These students must be evacuated immediately out of the warzone, so they can start their courses in September.
"We are ready to house them through our Room for Refugees programme. We must move the earth to get people out of Gaza.”
