LONDON: A Palestinian Ph.D student from Gaza who was awarded a University of Glasgow scholarship has described her heartbreak after her family was denied entry to Britain.
Manar Al-Houbi received confirmation of her successful scholarship application in May, The Guardian reported.
Her tuition fees as well as housing and living costs were covered by the tuition and a grant from the Council for At Risk Academics charity.
Al-Houbi completed visa applications for her family, but was told by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office last month that her family would be denied entry to the UK.
The scholarship “felt almost too good to be true,” the Ph.D student said.
Most international students in the UK are forbidden from bringing dependents with them, but full-time Ph.D students — such as Al-Houbi — are exempt from this rule, and can bring family members to Britain.
David Lammy, the deputy prime minister, said in a recent interview with the BBC, referring to Al-Houbi: “It’s important to understand that we are actually dependent on Israeli permissions to bring those people out, and that has not been easy to get.”
Israeli officials, however, have denied preventing Al-Houbi’s exit from Gaza.
She is now living with her family in a tent in Khan Younis. The family home in Rafah was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes during the early stages of the Israel-Hamas war.
“The fact that the UK government hasn’t even bothered to make a request on my family’s behalf is heartbreaking,” Al-Houbi told The Guardian.
Her Ph.D research is set to focus on using media and education to combat anti-women violence and promote peace efforts.
She hopes to return to Gaza after completing the program to teach and launch social programs.
Al-Houbi is “such an excellent candidate for a scholarship that she was able to pick the scheme that allows her to bring dependents,” said Prof. Alison Phipps, academic supervisor at the University of Glasgow.
“No parent should be forced to choose their studies over their family, not least when this is a firm criterion of the scholarship itself.”
An FCDO spokesperson said: “The government is working with universities to identify eligible students and to assist them to leave Gaza and take up their studies in the UK. This has been a highly complex process, but we have already successfully evacuated a number of students and expect further cohorts to arrive in the coming weeks.”
The first group of Palestinian university students from Gaza arrived in Britain last month after a sustained campaign led by academics and rights groups.
The CEO of the charity that awarded Al-Houbi her scholarship grant said his organization “is ready and waiting to support this family and we call on the UK government to support their evacuation immediately.”
Gaza Ph.D student ‘heartbroken’ as family denied entry to UK
https://arab.news/btw67
Gaza Ph.D student ‘heartbroken’ as family denied entry to UK
- Manar Al-Houbi was eligible to bring relatives after being awarded top scholarship
- But after FCDO rejection, deputy PM says Israel responsible for managing exits
EU to suspend 93 billion euro retaliatory trade package against US for 6 months
- “With the removal of the tariff threat by the US we can now return to the important business,” Gill said
- The Commission will soon make a proposal “to roll over our suspended countermeasures”
BRUSSELS: The European Commission said on Friday it would propose suspending for another six months an EU package of retaliatory trade measures against the US worth 93 billion euros ($109.19 billion) that would otherwise kick in on February 7.
The package, prepared in the first half of last year when the European Union was negotiating a trade deal with the United States, was put on hold for six months when Brussels and Washington agreed on a joint statement on trade in August 2025.
US President Donald Trump’s threat last week to impose new tariffs on eight European countries over Washington’s push to acquire Greenland had made the retaliatory package a handy tool for the EU to use had Trump followed through on his threat.
“With the removal of the tariff threat by the US we can now return to the important business of implementing the joint EU-US statement,” Commission spokesman Olof Gill said.
The Commission will soon make a proposal “to roll over our suspended countermeasures, which are set to expire on February 7,” Gill said, adding the measures would be suspended for a further six months.
“Just to make absolutely clear — the measures would remain suspended, but if we need them at any point in the future, they can be unsuspended,” Gill said.
