Two young mothers and their five children, all aged seven and under, are living in tents in Gaza as they wait to join husbands and fathers who have been granted refugee status in the UK. The families have insufficient food and no clean water, and face rodents, mosquitoes, bedbugs and the risk of snipers.
They were unable to provide biometric information for family reunion because Gaza’s visa application centre has been closed since October 2023.
The Home Office applied its Unsafe Journeys Policy to block the families from travelling to the UK. Judge Fiona Lindsley, sitting in the immigration court’s upper tribunal, found that the home secretary had acted unlawfully in applying the policy and quashed the decisions.
The policy allows some flexibility where biometric checks cannot be completed. The tribunal’s ruling therefore turned on the way that discretion had been used in these two cases.
Judge Lindsley held that the children’s interests had to be the primary consideration. She said: “The best interests of these children should be the primary consideration, and it cannot be in their best interests to be afraid, undernourished and suffering from diseases of poverty and insanitary conditions without their fathers and no end in sight to that separation.”
Decla Palmer, a solicitor at Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, represents the families.
The case concerns two families, though an estimated 250–300 people in Gaza are also seeking to reunite with immediate family members who have been granted refugee status in the UK and remain stranded.
The Foreign Office has said it is willing to evacuate some such families from Gaza to Jordan, where they could obtain biometrics. It is unknown whether any evacuations have been arranged or carried out.
The refugee family reunion scheme was suspended in September 2025. The Refugee Council estimates that approximately 20,000 people have been denied family reunion since the suspension.
The Home Office said it is looking to appeal against the tribunal decision.
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