‘I remain trapped,’ says Gaza student in UK visa plea

“Goldsmiths University believed in me, the British public stood beside and MPs shared a letter of support. Despite all of this, I remain trapped,” says Palestinian student Haia Mohammed.

The 22-year-old is among four students in Gaza who have been awarded scholarships at Goldsmiths, University of London, but are unable to leave the territory as they cannot submit the biometric data needed by the Home Office to process their study visas.

Ms Mohammed’s personal plight was cited in a letter signed by 113 MPs calling for the government asking to allow biometric checking in Egypt or Jordan.

The Home Office says it is considering how it can best support the students.

According to the letter from MPs, which was led by Barry Gardiner, Ms Mohammed is one of more than 80 other students who could not record their biometric data, which can include fingerprints, as there is no visa application centre in Gaza.

The 22-year-old was awarded the Goldsmiths Palestinian Scholarship to study BA English with Creative Writing, with the course due to start in September.

She told BBC News that before the war “I was studying in the school, like everyone, and graduated with 95%. Then I joined the university as a [computer] programmer.

“Then the war started and they destroyed the university so I tried to learn on Zoom.”

The specialist computer needed for her course was then destroyed meaning she had no means to continue her limited online course.

“There was no chance to learn after the destruction,” she explains.

Ms Mohammed says she has been displaced multiple times along with her mother and siblings since the beginning of Israel’s bombardment of the territory.

While she originally pursued a course in computer programming, she says she has always had a passion for poetry.

“Before the war, I was writing about the sea, the sky, the light, my friends,” she says.

“But when the war was coming, I have to write about my people, tragedy. This is not easy, writing about your people and what’s happening.”

“People right now see me in Gaza eyes. They don’t see me as Haia, they see Gaza in me,” she says. “This is heavy but sometimes you have to act for your people and your country.

“We don’t have the luxury of giving up.”

Explaining her determination to continue her studies, she says: “For me education isn’t just to learn.

“For me and my people it’s how to tell our stories, how to communicate with the world, how poetry can be a tool to survive.

“It’s the way to achieve my dream and become what I want.”

Nora Parr, a volunteer with the UK Coalition for Gaza Students, says the university applications made by the students seeking places in the UK have been “done under the most dire circumstances”.

“Students are travelling miles to go and get a reliable wi-fi signal to upload their documents, to do their interviews,” she says.

“University interviews are stressful for students on the best of times… They have persevered because this is how they are working to build their future at a time when their future is being slowly destroyed.”

Ms Parr called on the British government to negotiate with Israeli officials to facilitate the students’ exit from Gaza and on to neighbouring countries, such as Jordan or Egypt, where biometrics can be processed.

On Thursday Gardiner, the MP for Brent West, told the BBC he and his fellow MPs were not asking for biometric checks to be dispensed with, but for them to be deferred to other countries.

“The point is there is nowhere that they can be done in Gaza,” he said.

“We dispensed with those checks for students from Ukraine in a war situation, and other countries have done it as well.

“This is not saying let’s allow people with a dodgy record come to the UK people, that’s just nonsense.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the situation “on the ground in Gaza is extremely challenging” and officials were “doing everything we can to find a solution”.

A Goldsmiths University spokesperson said: “We remain ready to support Palestinian students once they arrive at Goldsmiths.

“We continue to monitor the situation closely and will offer appropriate support where we can to all applicants, including those holding an offer of a scholarship.”