British Palestinian family members meet with Prime Minister: Key calls for Child Evacuation Scheme, Family Reunification Scheme and UK to ensure medical aid gets in
22nd October 2024- Today, the British Palestinian Community, in collaboration with the Palestine Mission, met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. The group, which is made up of ordinary British Palestinians who have family members in Gaza, met with the government to provide powerful testimonies of the loved ones they have lost in Israel’s war on Gaza, whilst also articulating their concerns and asking the UK government to address key concerns from those in the community.
The family members highlighted ten key demands that the government needed to prioritise, which were handed over in written form to the Prime Minister at the meeting. Of the ten demands, the families particularly highlighted the need for a Child Evacuation Scheme, Palestinian Visa Scheme and measures by the UK to ensure medical aid gets in, despite Israel’s intentional blockade of aid.
Many family members shared stories of the loved ones they had lost, including children and babies killed and wounded. They called for the UK government to implement a ‘Child Evacuation Scheme’, initially as a pilot, to provide life-saving medical treatment for fifteen critically injured children from Gaza, who are unable to access healthcare at home due to Israel’s destruction of the healthcare system. The plan calls on the UK government to coordinate travel permits, medical visas, and safe transport to the UK, where the children can receive specialised care. The initial scheme would operate similarly to a scheme announced by the Irish government, which plans to take in thirty paediatric patients.
Secondly, family members called on the UK to implement Family Reunification Scheme for Palestinian refugees. Family members spoke of how families have been separated by the conflict, with loved ones stranded in Gaza. The initiative advocates for the creation of legal pathways and travel visas to reunite families by overcoming existing travel restrictions, designed to model the scheme offers to Ukrainians following Russia’s invasion.
The third key point addressed the restriction of aid flow to Gaza, especially in light of reports by reputable international organisations confirming that Israel was deliberately restricting aid flow to Gaza, particularly in the north, as part of the reported ‘General’s plan.’ In order to alleviate the use of starvation as a weapon of war, the families called for a British personnel presence at border crossings to ensure agile inspection processes and monitor and ensure that aid flows unrestricted into Gaza.
These ten key points particularly stressed the importance of humanitarian concerns to alleviate the suffering for their loved ones in Gaza, whilst also acknowledging that humanitarian aid is only a temporary alleviant that cannot bring about true structural change to protect the Palestinian people from further suffering.
Finally, members of the community also cited their fears for their domestic safety, regarding British nationals who have volunteered in the Israeli Defense Forces. British nationals who may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity are currently free to return to the United Kingdom, citing serious security concerns for Palestinians living in Britain who are now living amongst people who may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians.
One of the family members reflected on the meeting, saying:
“It is hard to talk about this collective trauma, but political leaders must hear our testimonies directly, so they understand the real-life impact of their policies.
Bringing fifteen children to the UK is a tiny ask compared to the 34,000 injured, and that’s before even mentioning 16,000 killed and 21,000 missing. But we sadly know all too well how much difference one life saved could have been for us.
This would just be a tiny drop in the ocean, but it could be the start of something more. All we can hope is that they have not just heard what we have said, but have listened. Time will tell.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.
- The British Palestinian Families Network is a group made up of ordinary British Palestinians who have family members in Gaza.
- A press summary of the ten demands given to the Prime Minister can be found here.
- Details of Irish equivalent of the ‘Child Evacuation Scheme’ available here.
- The featured image in this press release is a placeholder image from the British Palestinian Families Network. This will be updated with a meeting photo in due course.
- For more information, to arrange an interview with an ICJP spokesperson, please contact the ICJP news desk at press@icjpalestine.com.
- To arrange an interview with a British Palestinian Families spokesperson, please contact britishpalestinianfamily@gmail.com.