Ministers urged to help students trapped in Gaza with places at UK universities
Briefly

Forty students in Gaza with full scholarships to UK universities cannot begin their studies due to government requirements for biometric data, which cannot be fulfilled. The UK biometrics registration centre in Gaza closed in October 2023, leaving students unable to apply for visas. Some students have reportedly been killed while waiting, and others face ongoing danger. Campaigners are demanding a biometrics deferral and assistance in reaching a third country for visa applications. Dr. Nora Parr highlighted that several other countries have successfully evacuated students in similar circumstances.
Pressure is mounting on ministers to intervene on behalf of 40 students in Gaza who have been offered full scholarships to study at UK universities, but are unable to take up their places this September because of government red tape. A high-level meeting is understood to have taken place at the Home Office on Tuesday after MPs and campaigners highlighted the students' plight, calling on ministers to take action to help secure their safe passage to the UK.
Some students are reported to have been killed while waiting, while others are said to be in constant danger. Campaigners say students are unable to travel and begin their studies because of a Home Office requirement for biometric data for a visa application.
Dr Nora Parr, a researcher at Birmingham University who is supporting the students in Gaza, said Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany and Italy had already helped evacuate students with university places in their countries.
The students who studied, took TOEFL tests, wrote admissions essays and did virtual campus interviews under the most horrendous conditions imaginable many from tent homes and makeshift wifi hubs now must wait for a government decision.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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