Over 70 British MPs have signed a letter urging the British government to delay the implementation of biometric requirements for 80 Palestinian students in Gaza, according to Sky News.
The move comes as a response to the ongoing Israeli war in the Palestinian enclave that has prevented the students from completing the mandatory biometric checks.
Therefore, a government waiver would allow them to secure their university placements in the UK.
“Even before the war, leaving Gaza to pursue higher education was a complex process. The ongoing siege and restrictions made travel extremely difficult, but in the current state of constant bombardment, shootings at aid sites, and an IPC-declared famine, this process has become all but impossible,” the letter said.
Currently, Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Barry Gardiner are spearheading the appeal to the government.
To obtain UK visas, students should require a portrait photo and fingerprint scans.
Such biometric data allows border officials to perform identity checks and verify that visa applicants are not on a watchlist. Thus, they ensure their eligibility to come to the UK.
“Unless the government makes rapid progress with offering visas and coordinating evacuations over the next week, students who should be starting university next month in the UK will be among those who are being shot dead at aid sites, bombed in displacement camps or starving as famine spreads deeper in Gaza,” the letter added.
Significance of Visa Waiver
After the beginning of war in Gaza, the only biometric center in Gaza processing UK applications was shut down.
Barry Gardiner noted that government waiving of the requirement would “give the state of Palestine the possibility of a future.”
“These young people are the future of Palestine. They are the young talent … The state of Palestine will need everything from classical musicians right the way through to town planners,” he added.
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