Labour peer who escaped Nazis as a child makes powerful Gaza 'splitting up families' plea

A Labour peer who fled the Nazis as a child has pleaded with the Government to rip up rules he warns are pulling Gazan families apart.

Lord Alf Dubs has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood calling on her to allow students to bring their children and spouses with them. In a powerful plea for an exemption, Lord Dubs said students accepted to UK universities are being forced to choose between their families and their futures.

The former child refugee, 92, who came to the UK in 1939 on the as part of the Kindertransport rescue mission, wrote: "I know the cost of immigration rules that separate families.

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"As one of nearly 10,000 unaccompanied children who arrived on the Kindertransport in 1939 I was given a lifeline by Britain to flee the Nazis in Czechoslovakia.

"But in taking only the children, 60% of children never saw their parents again." He praised the Government for allowing students in Gaza with fully funded to be allowed to study at UK universities, saying they are "the future leaders of their country".

But he warned: "The present decision not to allow students to evacuate with their dependents, despite being able to show the means to support them, is forcing some students to choose between their family and their futures."

Under current rules they are not allowed to bring their families with them. He said one, Manar, has been offered a fully funded PhD at Glasgow University, but faces leaving behind her children aged three, five and 10.

And another, Loay, has an offer of a fully funded Masters at Oxford University, but cannot leave behind his wife and three month old baby. Lord Dubs wrote: "These are not large numbers, campaigners estimate there are fewer than 25 children and spouses of eligible students, but the impact of separating families is life-long."

Last week a group of 34 Palestinian students arrived in the UK to start their studies after beign evacuated from Gaza. They became the first to do so since 2023.

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