‘Neglected and abandoned’: British-Palestinians fight to bring family from Gaza to UK
Palestinian children sit outside on mattresses at a camp for displaced people in Rafah, southern Gaza, on 13 December 2023
Katherine Hearst reports in Middle East Eye on 17 January 2024:
Yusuf, a British-Palestinian, has not heard from his parents and siblings in Gaza for five days. Contact with them over the last few months has been disrupted by frequent blackouts, which can last for days at a time.
The most recent outage has been the longest, and the most agonising. “If I could at least hear from someone who could reassure me they are ok, it would keep me going,” he told Middle East Eye, adding: “These have been the worst three months of my life. “It’s beyond imagination…I feel helpless.”
Yusuf, who did not wish to share his surname, explained that his family were forced to flee after the house they had built was flattened in Israeli air strikes on Khan Younis in southern Gaza. “They have been fleeing from day one…I believe they’ve moved five times,” he said. Yusuf’s anxieties are further exacerbated by his father’s medical issues. The 71-year-old is suffering from kidney failure and was due to get treatment in Egypt just before the current Israeli assault began after 7 October.
When Israel cut off routes into and out of Gaza, he could no longer travel out of the besieged territory. “They don’t have access to clean water, there is no electricity,” Yusuf told MEE. “They didn’t have any proper protein for weeks until they managed to find some eggs a few weeks ago.”
“I feel that my father is close to dying…his life has been shortened for sure. The question now is will I be able to see him again or not?” he said. “It just kills me that his kidneys are failing every day, which can still be avoided.”
An unprecedented situation
Despite being a British citizen, Yusuf is struggling to bring his family over to the UK. Lacking a Ukraine style visa scheme, British nationals wishing to bring their Palestinian relatives to the UK must apply through existing family visa routes, which are prolonged, costly and often exclude siblings, parents of adult children and extended family. Existing visa guidelines mean Yusuf’s parents would have to submit biometrics, which can only be done from Egypt.
The UK government has said that they are currently not evacuating anyone from inside Gaza. When Yusuf contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in October, he was informed that if he was in Gaza with his parents, they would have tried to facilitate their passage to Egypt.
“They said, since you’re not there, we can’t do anything.” Yusuf told MEE. If Yusuf’s family reached the Rafah crossing, they would need to have their names added to a list at the border to pass through. The FCDO directed Yusuf to his local MP, who he contacted repeatedly often with no response. After two months of emails, they finally granted him a surgery appointment.
“I think I’ve been let down…it’s not complex what we are asking for,” he said. “The least that could and should be done [is to facilitate] people going to Egypt for biometrics,” he said. “They’re using the current available [visa] schemes, not a different route. And then at least my father could have some treatment even in Egypt if needed. “
Neglected and abandoned
Ghassan Ghaben, a Palestinian resident in the UK, has also been trying to bring his mother and siblings over. “It will take a really long time to go through the current guidance,” he said. “This situation is unprecedented, all we are seeking is just to bring them to safety,” Ghaben told MEE.
Ghaben and Yusuf are part of a 200-strong group of Palestinian residents in the UK who formed a Whatsapp group in the days following the launch of Israel’s ongoing onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip. They all share their sense of powerlessness and are grappling with the labyrinthine and costly UK family visa routes to reunite with their families, in the absence of any bespoke scheme to ease the process.