‘A scholarship made me dream of a life beyond Gaza – then the UK told me to leave my children behind’

A Palestinian mother has been forced to give up on a prestigious scholarship to study at a British university after an “unfair” government policy prevented her from bringing her family to the UK.

Amany, 34, won a life-changing Phoenix Space scholarship to study for an MSc in Gender and International Relations at the University of Bristol earlier this year.

Last month, she told The Independent she was one of several students waiting for an evacuation from Gaza to take up their place at a UK university. Leaders at several of Britain’s top universities had warned Sir Keir Starmer that frustrating delays to evacuations meant that many students were at risk of losing their place.

Now, she has been called up for evacuation out of Gaza on Wednesday 19 November – but has been told she must leave her children and husband behind.

Amany has three children: a 10-year-old daughter Taima, and two boys, six-year-old Taim, and a three-year-old Adam.

She says she has been left with an impossible choice.

“Every detail of my children’s happiness matters to me, their comfort, their strength, their ability to feel love within the family,” she told The Independent. “How can I leave them?”

As a determined and “devoted” mother, she says she spent considerable resources putting her children through private education before the war. They were enrolled in every extracurricular class she could find, and she tried to provide them with a semblance of normality even as the horror of the war in Gaza unfolded.

An email sent to her by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) Gaza Departure Support team, seen by The Independent reads: “We can only extend our offer to try and support your exit from Gaza to complete biometrics to you individually, and not family members or dependents. It is not currently possible to take forward your request to include your husband or three children in any departure from Gaza.”

It continues: “Therefore, we are sorry to let you know that your case for facilitated departure will not be progressed at this stage, unless you provide confirmation by reply email that you would like us to try and facilitate your exit individually.”

“We recognise this is an extremely difficult and personal decision, which impacts you and your family. If this makes taking up your place this year difficult, you will need to contact your university to explore alternative options,” it adds.

“It was really heavy on my heart when I got the news,” Amany said. “I cried all my tears. I felt alone navigating the situation as all my family and in-laws are outside Gaza. I can’t bear leaving my children in such unbearable and horrible circumstances.

“The situation is not stable and the ceasefire is just a word on paper. On the ground there are bombardments. How can I leave my kids alone with no support here?”

She says she has decided she will not take up the opportunity and will look elsewhere at other countries and other schemes if she is unable to take her children to the UK. Amany has been unable to break the difficult news to them, as they hoped for an evacuation. “I didn’t want to break their hearts,” she said.

• For more: Elrisala website and for social networking, you can follow us on Facebook
• Source of information and images “independent”“