Minister must clear path for Gaza scholarship students now
Minister must clear path for Gaza scholarship students now - The Labour Party
Labour further and higher education spokesperson Senator Laura Harmon has reiterated her call for urgent Government intervention to ensure students from Gaza who have secured fully funded scholarships at Irish universities can take up their places this year.
Speaking as campaigners protest outside the Department of Justice today, Senator Harmon called on Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to urgently review the students’ cases and coordinate an immediate response with the Ministers for Further and Higher Education and Foreign Affairs.
Senator Harmon said:
“These are exceptional students who have earned their places at Irish universities. They have secured fully funded scholarships on merit and should now be beginning their studies in Ireland. Instead, they face uncertainty because Government Departments have failed to deliver a practical and coordinated response.I’m reiterating my call to Minister O’Callaghan – he must urgently review these cases and work directly with his Cabinet colleagues to resolve every outstanding obstacle.
“The reported reasons for refusal, including requests for original bank statements and evidence that students will return home, appear completely disconnected from the reality facing people in Gaza. Asking applicants to meet requirements that disregard the devastation around them is neither reasonable nor workable. These are exceptional circumstances and they demand a practical and compassionate response.
“I have written to the Ministers for Justice, Further and Higher Education, and Foreign Affairs. All three Departments must work together, with clear political direction, to ensure these students do not lose places they worked so hard to secure.
“Government has the power to resolve this. Minister O’Callaghan must intervene without delay, review the decisions and clear a safe path for these students to travel to Ireland to take up their studies.”