Students in Gaza ‘devastated’ after plan for them to study in Belgium fails

Original article by Jennifer Rankin in Brussels

Students who are unable to leave Gaza and take up scholarships at Belgian universities have said they are devastated after Belgium’s government hit deadlock on a plan enabling them to leave the war-torn territory.

Ahmed Abujami, a 28-year-old doctor in Gaza, said he was “deeply disappointed” after Belgium’s five-party coalition government last Friday failed to agree on an evacuation plan for 13 students and researchers in the territory. Abujami has a scholarship to do a one-year master’s degree in public health at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. He hopes to gain skills and experience to rebuild Gaza’s shattered health system.

“I was devastated by the failure to reach an agreement on Friday,” he told the Guardian via a messaging app. “We have already lost so much because of the war and now we are facing the possibility of losing another academic year.”

Like many of the 12 other students, he is unable to apply for a visa to Belgium, which can only be done in person in Jerusalem or Cairo, but is blocked from leaving the Gaza Strip.

He said: “We are 13 students who followed every rule, went through a strict academic selection process and earned scholarships to study in Belgium. We have nothing to do with the political disagreements surrounding our case.”

Salwa Abu Elhaj, a 23-year-old graduate, still hopes to take up her place to study communications sciences at KU Leuven, but said “with every passing day, that hope becomes more difficult. I have worked very hard for this opportunity and it is heartbreaking to see it becoming uncertain because of circumstances that are completely outside my control.”

She lives in central Gaza in a tent with her family, after their home was destroyed and she was forced to move several times. “There is constant uncertainty about safety, food, water, electricity, communication and even what will happen the next day.”

Ahmed Alsalibi, a 39-year-old computer science professor, said the failure of Belgium’s government to reach an agreement had been “painful” for the group. In May 2024, he was awarded a fellowship at the Free University of Brussels (ULB). He hopes to develop artificial intelligence-aided systems that can be used one day in Gaza to help with the efficient dispatch of ambulances and emergency vehicles.

He said his visa has been approved, but he must collect it in person in Cairo, Jordan or Jerusalem. “We hope that the [Belgian] government in the end will decide to help us.”

The support the students are seeking is not unprecedented. Italy and the UK are among European countries that have negotiated with Israel and neighbouring countries to enable the evacuation of researchers and students in the last year.

The Guardian has seen official letters confirming the scholarships and, in Abujami’s case, emails denying requests for remote application for a visa.

Rectors from seven of the academic institutions involved published a joint article on Monday saying they were outraged by the outcome. “The moral compass of some government partners is missing,” the group wrote in De Standaard.

“These students are not illegal migrants. They were selected for a competitive scholarship by independent selection committees,” they said.

Belgium’s government, an eclectic five-party coalition led by the Flemish nationalist prime minister, Bart De Wever, failed to reach an agreement on a plan to evacuate the 13 students last Friday.

Maxime Prévot, one of Belgium’s deputy leaders and foreign minister, announced he was withdrawing a proposal to evacuate the students. He said it had been “completely rejected” by one coalition partner – understood to be the New Flemish Alliance party – “unless we were prepared to make concessions on returns to Afghanistan and return hubs”.

“Faced with this attempt to hold one issue hostage to another at the expense of people already living in misery I chose to withdraw my proposal. Dignity is not for sale.”

Belgium’s asylum and migration minister, Anneleen Van Bossuyt, opposes entry for the 13 students, without stronger action to ensure people without the right to stay in Belgium leave the country. She wants to see returns to Afghanistan of convicted criminals and other measures to strengthen deportations of irregular migrants.

She has been vocal in her opposition to the students’ entry, arguing it would lead to “a domino effect” if they seek to bring family members or request asylum in Belgium.

Van Bossuyt, a member of the New Flemish Alliance party says the evacuation would set a precedent for other countries. “Why wouldn’t that apply to people from Yemen or Sudan? Or why not Afghan girls who want to study here?,” she told the public broadcaster VRT earlier this month.

Van Bossuyt is expected to make a statement on the issue in the Belgian parliament on Wednesday. Her spokesperson declined to comment ahead of this event.

Writing in De Standaard, the seven rectors say they do not understand the minister’s reasoning, noting the students have scholarships to cover living expenses and are motivated to return home. “The courses they are coming to take align with what Gaza will need for reconstruction. After their studies, they want to return there for that purpose.”

The academic leaders say they continue to press for a solution, adding: “The doors of our lecture halls remain open.”

But with the academic year under way in some universities, the Gaza students are left watching time slip away.

“Our universities are waiting for us, our academic year is already moving forward and every day we remain trapped in Gaza puts our futures at greater risk,” Abujami said.