The Cambridge Student's Union (SU) has addressed multiple members of parliament via an open letter, requesting “government intervention” to allow Palestinian students with offers to study at UK universities into the country.

The SU addressed Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as other “elected representatives of students across the country”. This included Yvette Cooper, David Lammy, and Bridget Phillipson.

Under the government’s visa requirements, international students wishing to enter the UK have to provide biometric data in person: something which students in Gaza are unable to do due to the closure of their local visa office.

The nearest safe places with offices are Jordan and Egypt, but the students need British government intervention to enable them to leave Gaza.

One of these offer holders – Malak Hani – is a 19-year-old Palestinian student awarded a full scholarship to study History and Politics at Downing College, Cambridge. Hani graduated from her secondary school with the second-highest score in Palestinian territories.

Hani recently told The Telegraph: “I am stuck… losing another year without education would be very hard on me… I may lose my life first.”

“As elected representatives of students across the country, we are hugely concerned about the treatment of future members,” wrote the SU.

“These students have obtained extraordinarily competitive offers and demonstrated huge academic potential, only to be denied the ability to take up their places by a legal technicality entirely within your [the government’s] control,” they added.

The letter continues: “This situation is extremely time-sensitive. These students must be in the UK by September in order to begin their studies. Devastatingly, some students have already been killed while waiting for their visas to leave Gaza.”

The BBC reported yesterday (07/08) that more than 70 MPs are demanding that the government defer biometric checks for Gazan offer holders.

Barry Gardiner – MP for Brent West – and Abtisam Mohamed MP – co-chair for the All-Part Parliamentary Group for International Students (APPG) – have written to Starmer requesting that biometric checks be done in nearby Egypt or Jordan.

The joint letter read: “Within the first 100 days of war, every single university in Gaza has been bombed, leaving over 90,000 students without access to higher education.”

They added: “We ask you to coordinate an urgent evacuations route for this group of students, who have lost everything, and yet achieved scholarships to study, so that they may return to rebuild Palestine for the future”

A spokesperson for the government said: “We are aware of these students and are considering how we can best support [them].”

“Of course, the situation on the ground in Gaza makes this extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to find a solution,” they continued.