Accepting signatures - sign here
Last updated: 5th August 3:26pm
30th July 2025
Dear
Keir Starmer - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Yvette Cooper - Secretary of State for the Home Department,
David Lammy - Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs,
Bridget Phillipson - Secretary of State for Education,
We are writing to you with regards to the forty students who have offers and scholarships to study at UK universities - including Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh, and St Andrews - and are currently trapped in Gaza. These students are unable to travel to the UK due to the visa requirement of biometric data, which they have no way of obtaining due to the closure of the visa office in Gaza. Without government intervention, it will be impossible for these students to travel to the UK to commence their studies and uphold their scholarships.
As elected representatives of students across the country, we are hugely concerned about the treatment of our future members. 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 control. They have studied, written applications, taken English language tests, and attended online interviews, all while their fellow citizens are killed and their homes are levelled by the Israeli military. There is no opportunity for them to pursue university study in their home country, as there are no universities left in Gaza.
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. Other countries - including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, and Italy - have already taken action to ensure Gazan students are able to leave Gaza and take up their university offers. It is imperative that the UK government align with this.
We implore the UK government to ensure students in Gaza are able to obtain visas and facilitate their travel to study in the UK. We make this request amidst increasing pressure from MPs, university officials, and trade unions for the same cause.
It is clear you must take action urgently, as a matter of life or death.
Cambridge SU
Augustin Denis - President (PG)
Matthew Copeman - President (UG)
Jessica Asiedu-Kwatchey - Vice President (Education & Widening Participation)
Olivia Ledger - Vice President (Student Community & Societies)
Melanie Benedict - Vice President (Liberation & Welfare)
Edinburgh University Students’ Union
Ash Scholz - President
John Rappa - Vice President Activities and Services
Akrit Ghimire - Vice President Community
Katya Amott - Vice President Education
Syjil Ramjuthan - Vice President Welfare
Oxford SU
Shermar Pryce - President for Communities & Common Rooms
Wantoe Teah Wantoe - President for Postgraduates
Oluwaseun Blessing Sowunmi - President for Undergraduates
Alisa Brown - President for Welfare, Equity & Inclusion
University of St Andrews Students’ Association
Emily Bannister - President of Education
Alice Hodges - President of Union Affairs
Callum Robert Forbes Irvine - Postgraduate Research President
William Evans - Postgraduate Taught President
Aberdeen University Students’ Union
Christina Schmid - Student President
Hannah Cowie - Vice President for Activities
Jonathan Dorrat - Vice President for Communities
Samuel Seymour - Vice President for Education
Karim Hurtig - Vice President for Welfare
Bristol SU
Jessie Yeung - International Students Officer
Dundee University Students’ Association
Tánaiste Custance - President
Exeter Students’ Guild
Francis Steptoe - Education Officer
Greenwich Students’ Union
Muhammad Abdulmumin - President
Heriot-Watt University Student Union
Cameron Fields - President
Holly McAdams - Vice President Academic
Lilja Piuli Alam - Vice President Student Communities
Leeds Beckett SU
Faisal Alsammarraie - Postgraduate Officer
Islam Elserougi - Undergraduate Officer
Liverpool Guild of Students
Holly Thompson - Deputy President
William Jones - Vice President
University of Birmingham Guild of Students
Antonia Listrat - President
University of East Anglia Students’ Union
Chris Kershaw - Campaigns and Democracy Officer
University of Manchester Students’ Union
Elliot Briffa - City and Community Officer
Alec Severs - Faculty of Humanities Officer
University of Stirling Students’ Union
Justine Pédussel - Students’ Union President
Ellie Hammond - Vice President Communities