UK finally allows Palestinian students to bring families from Gaza
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The UK government has granted visa exemptions for Palestinian students from Gaza on scholarships, allowing them to bring their partners and children under revised immigration rules.
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A Palestinian woman cooks a meal as children sit by her side in their displacement tent at the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 5, 2025 (AFP)
Palestinian students on scholarships at UK universities will now be permitted to bring their families from Gaza, after the UK government agreed to consider visa exemptions on a case-by-case basis.
The students had previously been unable to take up their offers because existing student visa rules prohibited them from bringing dependents. Following lobbying from lawmakers and university advocates, the government revised its policy, allowing partners and children to accompany scholarship holders under certain conditions.
A government spokesperson said, “Students coming from Gaza to the UK have suffered an appalling ordeal after two years of conflict. They have endured unimaginable hardship but can now begin to rebuild their lives through studying in our world-class universities.”
“That is why we are supporting the evacuation of dependents of students on scholarships who are eligible to study here under the immigration rules on a case-by-case basis.”
Families previously blocked under student visa rules
Under standard immigration rules, international students pursuing research degrees are allowed to bring dependents if they can demonstrate financial ability to support them, approximately an annual £7,600 for those in London and £6,000 for those studying outside.
Until now, these rules have prevented scholarship students from Gaza from being joined by their families, even when their funding covered living costs.
So far, around 75 Palestinian students have arrived in the UK since the evacuation program began, including 17 who arrived earlier this week. The new exemption is expected to benefit a limited number of students still waiting for relocation.
The aggression continues in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with "Israel" conducting airstrikes earlier this week that killed more than 100 people, including children, across the territory.
One 26-year-old student, offered a place at the University of Oxford for a master’s degree in health, refused evacuation unless his wife and three-month-old daughter could accompany him.
“I couldn’t leave them behind in Gaza City, where life has become a daily nightmare. I was offered a lifeline, but what kind of life would it be if I escaped while they remained trapped in this horror? I held on to hope that if I waited, we might be allowed to leave together,” he said.
Pressure gets things done
Earlier this month, a cross-party group of over 100 Members of Parliament wrote to the government, urging officials to allow family members, especially young children, to accompany Palestinian students coming from Gaza.
In one case, a PhD student at the University of Glasgow was denied permission to bring her family despite her scholarship covering full housing and living expenses.
The decision also faced criticism from human rights and academic organizations. The Refugee Council and the University of Oxford were among those calling for the rule change.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, stated, “It is excessively harsh to tell students fleeing the appalling devastation in Gaza that while they can study safely here, they must leave their loved ones behind. No one should be forced to choose between their education and their family.”
