Petition Evacuate children from Rafah, Gaza to a place of safety in the UK

Government responded

This response was given on 22 October 2024

The Government is keeping all existing pathways under review in response to events in Gaza. Currently Palestinians who wish to settle in the UK must do so via the existing range of routes available.

The death and destruction in Gaza are intolerable. The UK is pushing for an immediate ceasefire. The fighting must stop, the hostages must be released and much, much more aid must enter Gaza. A deal is on the table, and we are urging both sides to show flexibility.

We are constantly reviewing the best way to support the most vulnerable people in Gaza. The UK Government recently announced £5.5 million for UK-Med to support the ongoing work of their field hospitals and the emergency department at Nasser Hospital in Gaza as well as funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is indispensable to the humanitarian response on the ground.

Since the conflict began, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has provided consular support to a total of 241 children to depart Gaza and charities such as Project Pure Hope and Save a Child are providing support for medical cases.

The Government is assisting British nationals and other eligible people to leave Gaza, liaising closely with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities. The Government is working with authorities across the region to facilitate the repatriation of British citizens and their family members who already hold permission to come to the UK.

British citizens and their foreign national dependants (spouse, unmarried/civil partner, child under 18), may come to the UK provided they have valid travel documents and existing permission to enter or remain in the UK.

Immediate family members of British citizens and those settled in the UK who wish to come and live in the UK and do not have a current UK visa must apply for one under one of the existing Family visa routes. More information on all routes available for a person to apply to work, study or settle/join family in the UK can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration. Visa Application Centres in the region, such as Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey, are open and offering a full service.

Since 2015, over half a million people were offered safe and legal routes into the UK. This includes over 28,600 individuals resettled to the UK under its global United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR) resettlement schemes, which include the UK Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship, and the Mandate Resettlement Scheme.

The UK continues to work with UNHCR to accept referrals of the most vulnerable refugees, deemed as in need of resettlement to the UK, under its existing resettlement schemes.

UNHCR makes referrals based on an assessment of protection needs and vulnerabilities, in line with their resettlement submission criteria, which include children and adolescents at risk. In undertaking this assessment, UNHCR will conduct a best interest assessment (BIA) to see if a child would benefit from resettlement. Where a child is unaccompanied, it may be in the child’s best interest to remain in the region, where they are more likely to be reunited with their family. BIAs are required for cases where parents are no longer together, and resettlement will effectively split the family unit and the custody of the child/children is not clear cut, i.e. one parent is missing and UNHCR is unable to obtain official parental consent to resettle the child/children.

The Government provides a safe and legal route to bring families together through its refugee family reunion policy. This allows individuals with a form of protection status in the UK to sponsor their partner or children to stay with or join them here, provided they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin to seek protection.

Home Office