A court ruling has overturned the Home Office’s decision to prevent mothers and children currently in Gaza from reuniting with their families in the United Kingdom.

Typically, families seeking to join relatives in the UK must go through biometric verification processes, which include fingerprinting and facial recognition at a Visa Application Centre (VAC). However, the VAC in Gaza has been closed since October 2023, making it extremely challenging for individuals to leave the region.

The government has implemented an Unsafe Journeys Policy that allows for some leniency in these circumstances. Nonetheless, it has adopted a stringent stance towards families, particularly mothers with young children, in Gaza who wish to reunite with fathers and husbands who have received refugee status in the UK.

In a ruling from the Upper Tribunal, a judge determined that the home secretary acted unlawfully concerning how the policy was enforced for two specific families, thus invalidating the decision to deny them entry.

Both families consist of young mothers with five children under the age of seven, living in precarious conditions in tents in Gaza, facing severe shortages of food and clean water, and threats from pests and potential violence.

The Home Office has indicated its intention to appeal this ruling.

Approximately 250-300 families in Gaza, who wish to unite with relatives granted refugee status in the UK, find themselves in a similar predicament. The Home Office insists that biometric data must be collected before families can travel. Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has expressed willingness to evacuate some families from Gaza to facilitate biometric processing in Jordan.

Judge Fiona Lindsley emphasized in her judgment that the families are living in vulnerable conditions within a conflict zone, suffering from malnutrition, health issues, and psychological distress due to the uncertainty surrounding their husbands and fathers in the UK. She stated, “The welfare of these children should be the foremost concern, and it cannot be in their best interests to live in fear, suffer from malnutrition, and face diseases related to poverty and unsanitary conditions without their fathers, especially with no resolution to their separation in sight.”

Decla Palmer, a solicitor with the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, who advocates for the families, remarked, “The Home Office is doing everything within its power to prolong and justify its unlawful decisions, adhering to a policy that prevents eligible individuals in Gaza from coming to the UK.”

She added, “These families are utterly devastated—it’s challenging to articulate the trauma they have experienced and continue to face. The mothers and children trapped in Gaza suffer daily, while the fathers in the UK are confronted with the heartbreaking reality that they may never embrace their children again. The Home Office is intentionally keeping these families apart, leaving them in perilous conditions in Gaza.”

On Monday, the Home Office announced new resettlement pathways for refugees, including those from Palestine and women from Afghanistan. However, this initiative is limited to processing a few hundred applications annually. The timeline for the much larger Refugee Family Reunion scheme, which was paused in September 2025, remains unclear. The Refugee Council estimates that around 20,000 individuals have been denied family reunification since that suspension. Although the government initially suggested new rules would be introduced in the spring of 2025, the program is still on hold, with no additional information expected until 2027.

A representative from the Home Office stated, “We intend to appeal this decision. The collection of biometrics, including fingerprints and facial recognition, is an essential part of the UK’s immigration framework, and enrollment at a UK overseas visa application centre is a standard requirement for visa applications to enter the UK. This process allows for thorough evaluations against UK and international immigration and criminal records to identify individuals who may pose risks to national security, public safety, or immigration compliance.”