Dozens of Palestinian women and children remain trapped in the Gaza Strip after UK Home Office procedures prevented them from being evacuated to reunite with close relatives in Britain, despite the Foreign Office’s readiness to assist with their departure.

The British government suspended new refugee family reunion applications in September, saying stricter rules would be introduced during the spring. No new regulations have yet been announced, while the programme remains suspended.

Although applications submitted before the suspension continue to be processed, several families in Gaza who applied to join relatives in the United Kingdom before the programme was halted have still been unable to leave.

The Home Office and Foreign Office coordinate evacuation arrangements from Gaza, with eligible families currently permitted to travel through Jordan. However, the Home Office has not issued some families with the required onward travel assurance allowing them to continue from Jordan to the United Kingdom.

The department has also insisted that biometric information must be collected before the families travel to Jordan, despite Gaza’s visa application centre having been closed since October 2023.

Several European countries have facilitated comparable evacuations, while the British Foreign Office has confirmed that it is prepared to help eligible families leave Gaza.

Lawyers representing the affected families argue that Palestinian applicants are being subjected to stricter treatment than refugees from other countries seeking to reunite with relatives in Britain.

In some cases, the Home Office has suggested that family members, including young children, could present a security risk because they are travelling from an area where armed groups operate. Some of their relatives in the United Kingdom were themselves granted asylum after facing persecution in Gaza.

One case involves a doctoral student who has been separated from his family. Although the Foreign Office agreed to assist with their evacuation, the Home Office informed him that a decision on their onward travel assurance might not be made before December.

In a legal letter dated July 15, 2026, the department acknowledged the family’s living conditions, including inadequate sanitation, insect-infested tents and repeated bombardment. However, it concluded that those circumstances alone did not meet the threshold for compelling circumstances under existing guidance.

Another Palestinian refugee living in the United Kingdom remains separated from his wife and three children, aged nine, 12 and 14, as well as his 17-year-old nephew, who was taken in by the family after losing both parents during the war.

The man said his family faces constant danger and that the British government had withdrawn assistance it had previously promised. He also rejected the suggestion that a mother and her children could represent a security threat, questioning why their journey was being blocked when the Foreign Office was prepared to evacuate them.

Lawyers acting for several affected families say vulnerable people in Gaza have been left without protection despite being promised assistance. They point to a clear division between the Foreign Office’s willingness to arrange evacuations and the Home Office’s refusal to complete the necessary travel procedures.

The Home Office said its asylum reforms would end automatic family reunion and require people seeking to bring relatives to the United Kingdom to meet stricter eligibility standards.