Foreign office has declined to assist family of six, who already have permission to join a relative in Britain
A Palestinian family of six who are trapped in Gaza despite having permission to join a relative in the UK have gone to court to try to force British authorities to help them leave.
Their case caused political controversy in February when the prime minister, Keir Starmer, said an immigration tribunal judge was wrong to grant them the right to live in the UK after they applied through a scheme originally meant for Ukrainian refugees.
After their application to come to Britain was granted on appeal, the Home Office confirmed it would allow them entry if they attended a visa application centre and submitted their biometric data. In order to do this, the family need consular support to leave Gaza.
However, that support had been refused by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in “unlawful” circumstances, lawyers for the family told the high court on Wednesday.
