Dozens of Palestinian children from Gaza to be brought to UK for treatment

A group of between 30 and 50 Palestinian children will be evacuated from Gaza to Britain for medical treatment in the coming weeks, according to the BBC.

Children from Gaza have been brought privately to the UK for medical treatment, but this marks the first time that the British government itself will evacuate children for treatment.

Last week 96 MPs from several parties wrote to the government urging it to bring sick and injured children from Gaza to Britain, warning that many were at risk of imminent death.

Earlier this month the government said plans to bring children to the UK for treatment were being carried out “at pace”.

The children will be allowed to travel with family members, and some are expected to enter the asylum system afterwards, since they may be unable to return to Gaza. 

More than 50,000 children have been killed or injured since October 2023, according to the UN.

Is Britain finally realising that Palestinian children are human?

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Last month more than 100 humanitarian organisations warned that “mass famine” has been spreading across the Gaza Strip since Israel blocked humanitarian aid from entering in early March and began providing inadequate aid through the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Fund at the end of May.

In February this year British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the government would seek to prevent Palestinian refugees from living in the UK using a refugee scheme established for Ukranians.

Starmer insisted in parliament that the Home Office will shut a “legal loophole” that allowed a Palestinian refugee family from Gaza to stay in the UK.

The Home Office refused an initial application by the Palestinian family in May last year, but in September an immigration tribunal ruled in their favour.

More than 190,000 Ukranians have come to the country since Russia invaded in March 2022.