Dublin college students staged a protest outside the Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, demanding the Government facilitate the evacuation of students from Gaza to take up places in Irish universities.
The Representative Office of Ireland, in Ramallah, provides 30 scholarships to Palestinian students to pursue one-year master’s degrees in Ireland through a programme with Irish Aid.
Others receive supports from individual Irish universities, called “sanctuary scholarships”, which often include waived fees and a monthly stipend.
Students from Trinity College, University College Dublin, Dublin City University and the National College of Art and Design gathered at Iveagh House where they called on the Government to “make good on its promise to Palestinian students, both current and future”.
In July, nine Palestinians arrived in Ireland to begin their studies this September; however, protesters claim more than 40 others remain trapped in Gaza with no clear path to Ireland.
“With few safe passages out of Gaza, these students are being left cruelly stranded by the Government that invited them here in the first place,” the coalition of students’ unions said in a joint statement.
Ibtisam Abuhassira, who has called on the Irish Government to evacuate her son and husband from Gaza, at the protest in Dublin. Photograph: Bryan Meade
Speaking on the steps of Iveagh House, Harry Johnston, chair of Trinity College Dublin’s boycott, divestment and sanctions group – a student-led pro-Palestinian organisation with no affiliation with the university’s administration – said Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris and his department were failing those due to arrive on campuses.
“We’re here today to demand that sanctuary scholarship students, people who have been promised places in Irish universities, will be allowed to take up those places,” he said. “We have to do better as a nation that has experienced forced famine and the same displacement that is affecting Palestinians right now.”
Hazen Griffin, from UCD’s students’ union, accused the Government of “playing games” with the lives of affected students by not evacuating them immediately.
“To grant a student fleeing war and genocide a place at a university in another country with no extra support or financial help is nothing short of despicable,” he said.
Mr Griffin read from correspondence the UCD union received from a Gazan student due to begin studying in Dublin.
“On August 18th, 2024, an Israeli air strike destroyed my family’s home while we were inside. My father and brother were injured. It was the hardest night of the war,” the letter read.
“My dream is to study biomedical engineering. Growing up in Gaza, I witnessed hospitals without electricity, life-saving equipment broken and a lack of spare parts, and patients dying while awaiting basic treatment.”
The student said he had witnessed his father suffering in hospital with no way to receive the correct treatment.
“That experience strengthened my commitment to pursue biomedical engineering, not just for myself, but for anyone going through similar tragedies.”
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Independent Senator Alice-Mary Higgins told the demonstrators that the Gazan students “have done the impossible work of earning scholarships, of being accepted to universities, of continuing to envisage a future when they are living in a place moment by moment, when all they are surrounded with is death”.
She said she took issue with being told by the Department of Foreign Affairs that she should appreciate that the embassy has limited resources to support non-Irish citizens.
“We don’t appreciate that and we don’t accept it.
“The idea that the workload of an embassy and a few staff is so difficult that they can organise evacuation for nine students but not for 40 is outrageous. What really that language is hiding is a rollback on decency,” she said.
In response, the department said it was aware of the 40 Palestinian students and was providing consular assistance.
A spokeswoman said individuals must be in possession of valid visas and travel documents in order to travel to Ireland.
“Exit from Gaza is dependent on receipt of permission from the relevant local authorities, both in Israel and, in certain circumstances, neighbouring jurisdictions. Such permissions are outside the control of the Government of Ireland.”