UK Government Blocks Family Reunification: Palestinians in Gaza Caught in a Vicious Cycle

A Palestinian father has been granted protection in the UK while his wife and two children remain stranded in a tent in Gaza. Whenever his three-year-old son asks why his father cannot be with him, he can only say that the border is closed.

"He asks me, why don't you open it, Dad? He thinks I have a private plane. He keeps asking, can you come and get us?" the father, who asked not to be named, told Al Jazeera.

Father and son communicate over WhatsApp whenever there is an internet connection. He said that every time he cannot reach his wife, he becomes extremely anxious, fearing something terrible has happened to her or the children.

At times he goes to a park to clear his head and sees children playing with their parents. "My heart hurts when I see that. I am incredibly lonely. Without family, it is hard to enjoy anything. I worry about them all the time," he said.

He is not alone. Lawyers and human rights groups estimate that between 250 and 300 people are pursuing legal routes to bring immediate family members from Gaza to the UK but remain separated.

Court ruling and Home Office obstacles

On 30 September, a higher court ruled in favour of allowing family reunification in the UK. However, the Home Office is appealing the decision and refuses to waive the biometric data requirement for family members, even though Gaza has no registration facility.

This further prolongs the separation, as Israel continues its attacks on the Gaza Strip despite a ceasefire reportedly reached in October 2025.

'They bombed the area next to us'

A second family also asked to remain anonymous. Earlier this month, shrapnel from an Israeli bomb damaged their home. The mother said the family has had to keep displacing.

"Where we are now is not safe. Last night they bombed the area next to us," she said. "I sat in the corner holding all three of my children. They were all screaming and crying, and I kept telling them everything would be alright."

Asked what she wanted most in the world, her youngest daughter replied: "To be with my father, with my sisters and my mother."

Decla Palmer, a lawyer at the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit who represents the families, told Al Jazeera: "To hold your child and protect them from danger is the most basic wish of any parent. What these families are going through is every parent's worst nightmare. The fathers in the UK face the prospect of never holding their children again."

The biometric trap

Both families applied before the government suspended new applications under the refugee family reunion route on 4 September 2025. Lawyers argue they meet the eligibility criteria, but what keeps them apart is an administrative vicious cycle.

They cannot apply for a visa without providing biometric data. But the visa application centre in Gaza, where families register biometric features such as fingerprints, has been closed since October 2023, so they cannot leave Gaza.

A more flexible biometric requirement has been applied to those needing medical evacuation from Gaza, while the government has helped students on scholarships leave Gaza and complete biometric checks in Jordan. However, lawyers say the Home Office refuses to offer similar assurances to separated family members, even though they must still undergo UK and Israeli security checks.

Palmer said: "The Home Office is actively separating these families, leaving them stuck in Gaza in serious danger. The judge made the right decision in our case, ruling that the Home Office should lawfully apply its unsafe-route policy to allow the mothers and children we represent, who are eligible to come to the UK under the Immigration Rules, to leave Gaza and reunite in the UK. Instead, the Home Office is doing everything it can to delay and defend its unlawful decisions, maintaining a policy position that prevents eligible people from Gaza coming to the UK from being able to do so."

No safe and legal path for families in Gaza

Campaigners argue that a dedicated scheme for Gaza families could overcome these barriers, citing previous arrangements that allowed eligible Ukrainians to provide biometric data after arriving in the UK.

A petition calling for such a scheme attracted more than 100,000 signatures and was debated in parliament in May 2024. In a December 2023 response, the government said there were no plans for bespoke arrangements, directing people to existing visa routes.

Lawyers are now calling on the government to remove the barriers preventing eligible families from reuniting under existing visa routes. Since Israel closed the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt in May 2024, lawyers say no families have been reunited through the visa route these families are forced to use, despite the UK government under Prime Minister Andy Burnham taking a tougher stance on Israel.

This month, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the reopening of the UK Resettlement Programme, with the Home Office expected to include Palestinian refugees among new referral cases. The announcement drew applause at the Labour Party conference and was initially praised by pro-Palestinian groups.

However, the Communities for Palestinians (CFP) coalition argues that Mahmood's speech and subsequent Home Office statements omitted an important detail: the scheme for Palestinians covers only a small number of particularly vulnerable refugees already in Jordan or Lebanon, meaning it does not apply to mothers and children trapped in Gaza.

Lawyers say the only remaining safe and legal route to the UK is if a Palestinian is seriously injured by Israel and can be medically evacuated, or if they qualify for a student scholarship.

"There is a real contradiction in what we are seeing," Ghassan Ghaben, senior community advocacy officer at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, told Al Jazeera. "The Home Secretary recently announced the reopening of the UK Resettlement Programme and spoke about creating safe and legal routes for those fleeing oppression. But at the same time, the Home Office continues to fight the reunion of Palestinian mothers and young children with fathers already in the UK."

He argued that for these families, the consequences are measured in lives. "The government needs to stop treating this as an ordinary administrative matter. These are families separated by genocide, and every additional day of delay could cost them their lives."

At the time of publication, the UK Home Office had not responded to Al Jazeera's request for comment.