A PALESTINIAN refugee is taking the Home Office to court after they refused to let her family join her in Scotland.
Hadil Louz, who lives in Broughty Ferry with her husband Ibrahim and eight-month-old daughter Laila, has been trying to reunite with her parents and five siblings.
The 32-year-old applied to the Home Office in December last year for permission for her family to join her in Scotland asking them to waive or defer fingerprint rules.
However, the application was rejected by the Home Office after two “very stressful” months as they told Louz her family was “not under immediate danger”.
At the time she told The National: “How can you judge? I gave a lot of evidence, a report of my family situation and - of course, it's very evident on TV - the genocide that’s going on.
“And you are saying we are not under immediate danger and we are not a target?”
She added: “It’s really frustrating and disappointing. Also, time is a very important factor for people in Gaza.”
Louz is now reportedly appealing against the decision in the Scottish courts.
Campaigners are calling for a similar family reunification scheme for Palestinians which was previously introduced for people fleeing Afghanistan and the war in Ukraine.
Louz had applied for family reunification protection which typically applies to a partner or dependent child and in most cases siblings.
However, the Home Office may also grant refugee status to parents if they have “exceptional circumstances”.
Louz has lived in the UK since 2018 and is studying at the University of St Andrews as part of a PhD scholarship programme.
She currently has protection status as a refugee in the UK but said she will apply for permanent status next year.
Earlier this year she raised £40,000 on GoFundMe to help pay for four family members to be evacuated from Gaza through the Rafah crossing to Egypt.
She told the BBC that her family is currently in the UAE and that her father is receiving humanitarian treatment for lymphoma cancer, with her siblings currently in Egypt.
She told the BBC: “The only thing I was able to do was to try and find a way to bring them to safety, so that was my priority. They are all dependent on me, I am the only one that can help them.
“Safety is to be surrounded by your family, it’s not to be safe from missiles and bombardments, that’s not the only meaning of safety.
“Being deprived of the right of being surrounded by my family, safe and healthy, is really difficult.”
The Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) is calling for the introduction of a family reunification scheme for Palestinians.
Sabir Zazai (below), the chair of the SRC, told the BBC that the UK Government could introduce a family scheme and expand the definition of family.
“In many cultures, family is much wider than just spouses and children,” he said.
“I’m from Afghanistan. In my culture looking after my family, my father, my mother and sisters and brothers, is part of my values.
“We believe that when people are forced to flee their homes, when their lives are shattered, it takes all parts of society to work together to help them rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.
“Refugee protection is not about politics, it's about common human decency.”
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
