UK Home Office accused of giving false hope over Gaza refugee scheme
Shabana Mahmood announced the safe route at Labour conference, but refugees inside Gaza will not be eligible.
What happened
The UK Home Office is facing criticism after acknowledging that a newly reopened refugee resettlement scheme will not accept applications from Palestinians currently inside Gaza.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the scheme at the Labour Party conference, where her department stated that around one in four referrals would be allocated to Palestinian refugees and Afghan women and girls fleeing war and persecution. However, details confirmed by the organisation administering referrals show the route is limited entirely to people who have already fled to Lebanon or Jordan.
The umbrella alliance Communities for Palestinians said this crucial detail was omitted from ministerial speeches and official statements, leading displaced Gazans and their families to believe they could seek sanctuary in the UK.
Who is affected
Under guidelines published by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), which is handling referrals for the Home Office, only a "very small number of extremely urgent humanitarian cases" in Lebanon and Jordan will be processed.
Because Palestinian refugees fall under the mandate of UNRWA rather than the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), millions living in Gaza, the West Bank and neighbouring states occupy a distinct legal position. Communities for Palestinians co-founder Vicky Moller said supporters understood the announcement meant "rescuing people from Gaza", where ongoing warfare has displaced almost the entire population.
The Refugee Council's chief policy analyst, Jon Featonby, urged ministers to adapt the rules to reflect the reality facing Palestinians. While welcoming legal routes, Featonby said safe routes must operate in the thousands rather than hundreds and remain accessible regardless of location.
Why the UK excluded Gaza
The Home Office defended the criteria, stating that international refugee frameworks require individuals to be outside their country of origin before qualifying for resettlement. A spokesperson said Palestinians remaining in Gaza would not initially fall within scope, though those who manage to leave could potentially be referred through IRAP.
Dr Peter Walsh, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory, noted that UK safe routes have historically drawn from neighbouring third countries rather than active conflict zones. Between 2014 and 2021, the UK resettled roughly 20,000 Syrians, all from countries surrounding Syria rather than directly from inside the warzone.
Walsh added that flying people directly out of Gaza would require a complex emergency evacuation scheme reliant on border cooperation from Israel and Egypt, alongside Home Office biometric checks that cannot currently be conducted inside Gaza.
Key numbers
| What | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Referral proportion for Palestinians and Afghans | Around 1 in 4 | Home Office statement |
| Syrians resettled via UK safe route (2014-2021) | Roughly 20,000 | Migration Observatory, University of Oxford |
Questions readers are asking
Who is eligible for the UK's Palestinian refugee resettlement scheme?
Only a small number of urgent humanitarian cases already residing in Jordan or Lebanon who are referred to the International Refugee Assistance Project by local humanitarian organisations.
Can people currently living in Gaza apply for UK resettlement?
No. The Home Office states that under international refugee frameworks, individuals must be outside their country of origin to qualify for resettlement, and no direct application route exists inside Gaza.
In this story
| Name | Role in the story |
|---|---|
| Home Office | UK government ministry responsible for immigration and refugee policy. |
| Shabana Mahmood | UK Home Secretary who announced the resettlement scheme at the Labour Party conference. |
| Gaza | Palestinian territory currently excluded from direct resettlement applications. |
