Letter on Palestinian Refugees

• Alt text

  Urgent: Please ensure that Palestinians from Gaza are included in the first phase of Named Community Sponsorship

  Dear Home Secretary.

  We write to welcome the Government’s new Named Community Sponsorship route, announced by you and due to openfor applications this autumn. This scheme will enable communities to take direct responsibility for welcoming refugees. It is a scheme which we are hopeful of and want to succeed.

  We understand that the first phase of implementation, expected to be announced shortly, will identify which groups ofrefugees are prioritised at the outset. Public reporting has suggested that Sudanese and Eritrean nationals are likely to be among those included. We have seen no indication that Palestinians from Gaza will be part of the first cohort, and we are deeply concerned that they may be excluded.

  We do not raise this to diminish the urgent claims of any other group. The humanitarian crises in Sudan and Eritrea aregrave. We raise it because the humanitarian situation in Gaza is among the gravest in the world today, because many Palestinian families have longstanding family and community links with the United Kingdom, and because communities across the UK are already ready and willing to sponsor them.

  Named Community Sponsorship is intended to harness the commitment and capacity of communities prepared to welcome refugees. In the case of Palestinians from Gaza, that commitment already exists. Faith communities, refugee organisations and local community groups stand ready to provide practical support for families rebuilding their lives. Including Palestinians from Gaza in the first phase would therefore reflect not only humanitarian need but also the practical readiness that is central to the success of the scheme.

  We are asking for one specific and practical humanitarian decision: that Palestinian families from Gaza, subject to the same security, criminality and health checks as any other applicant, be included among those eligible for Named Community Sponsorship from the first phase.

  We understand that the announced scheme would operate in partnership with UNHCR, who will determine the refugee status of the sponsored individuals; however, since neither UNHCR nor UNRWA can register Palestinian refugees to come to the UK at this stage, the standard referral pathway may not extend to Gazans - effectively excluding them. Therefore, we are asking that you establish an alternative mechanism for Gazans.

  If the Government concludes that this is not possible, we respectfully ask that it publish the reasons for that decision together with a clear timetable for the inclusion of Palestinian families from Gaza.

  We believe this would command support across faith communities and among organisations with long experience of refugee sponsorship. It would demonstrate that the scheme is guided by humanitarian need, practical readiness and fairness.

  Given the urgency of the timetable, we would be grateful for an opportunity to meet with you before the first-phase announcement. We suggest that such a meeting include representatives of Communities for Palestinians and Citizens UK so that we can discuss the practical case for including Palestinian families from Gaza in the initial phase of the scheme.

  We look forward to your response.

  Yours sincerely,

  Adrian Ramsay MP