A Gaza PhD student who secured a prestigious scholarship to the University of Glasgow has been left devastated after British authorities blocked her husband and children from joining her.
In May, Manar al-Houbi, a Gaza PhD student, received the life-changing news that she had been awarded a full scholarship funded by the Council for At Risk Academics.
The award covered tuition, accommodation, and living expenses for her and her family — a rare opportunity for a Gaza PhD student living under years of siege and conflict.
Manar said the offer felt unreal, a chance to rebuild hope after surviving relentless airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip that had destroyed their home in Rafah.
She completed all visa applications promptly, providing documents proving that her scholarship and visa allowed dependents to accompany her under the UK immigration policy for doctoral researchers.
However, just weeks before her academic term began, she received a sudden email from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office informing her that her family would not be permitted to travel.
The notice came amid new restrictions under the UK immigration policy, which limits dependents accompanying international students unless specific exemptions apply to their visa category.
As a full-time Gaza PhD student, Manar al-Houbi fell under those exemptions, but her family’s case was abruptly denied without explanation or official reasoning.
“The email broke my heart,” she said. “It felt like everything I had worked for was crumbling before my eyes. My children were so excited to start a new life.”
The Gaza PhD student now lives in a tent with her husband and two children in Khan Younis, after their house was reduced to rubble in an Israeli airstrike earlier in the war.
She described the conditions as unbearable — high heat, little food, no privacy — and the painful irony of holding a scholarship to a world-class institution while being trapped under siege.
Manar’s PhD research focuses on how media and education can challenge gender violence and promote peace — subjects deeply tied to her personal experience as a Gaza PhD student.
“I wanted to dedicate my research to women who suffer in silence,” she said. “Now I am the one silenced, waiting for someone to open a door that should already be open.”
Her supervisor, Professor Alison Phipps of the University of Glasgow, expressed dismay at the decision, calling it a betrayal of academic fairness and humanitarian values.
“She earned a scholarship that explicitly allows family dependents,” said Phipps. “No parent should have to choose between pursuing education and being with their loved ones.”
Officials from Israel denied any role in preventing Manar’s family from leaving Gaza, saying evacuation decisions depend solely on receiving countries and not on Israeli restrictions.
A spokesperson for Cogat, the Israeli government department overseeing Gaza crossings, stated that no limits were placed on exit requests for Gaza PhD student applicants.
“It should be clarified that Israel does not impose restrictions on the number of residents exiting Gaza,” the statement read. “We rely only on official requests from receiving nations.”
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, questioned about the matter in a BBC interview, said the process was “complex” and dependent on permissions from multiple authorities.
“It’s important to understand that we are dependent on Israeli coordination to bring people out, and that process has not been easy,” Lammy said when pressed about the Gaza PhD student’s case.
But to many in academic circles, the explanation sounded evasive. Campaigners accused the UK government of abandoning its commitments under humanitarian academic agreements.
Matt Foster, chief executive of the Council for At Risk Academics, said the charity was “ready and waiting to support this family” but needed government cooperation to finalize evacuation.
“This Gaza PhD student represents the very reason our program exists — to rescue scholars at risk,” said Foster. “We urge the UK government to fulfill its duty and act now.”
The University of Glasgow has reportedly offered to assist with additional paperwork and liaise with the Home Office to reopen Manar al-Houbi’s family visa denial case.
Scottish education secretary Jenny Gilruth has requested an urgent meeting with the foreign secretary to discuss the issue, calling it “an affront to the principles of academic sanctuary.”
Meanwhile, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it is continuing to work “with universities to identify eligible Gaza PhD student applicants and assist them in leaving Gaza.”
Officials said several students had already been successfully evacuated and that more cohorts were expected to arrive in the UK in the coming weeks.
But for Manar al-Houbi, the words bring little comfort. She remains stranded in Gaza, surrounded by rubble and uncertainty, clutching her academic dreams like a fragile promise.
“The scholarship was supposed to represent hope,” she said quietly. “Now it feels like a reminder of everything we’ve lost — and everything we still cannot reach.”
Academics across the UK have rallied in support of the Gaza PhD student, signing petitions and writing open letters to the Home Office demanding the reversal of her family visa denial.
Social media campaigns under hashtags like #LetManarStudy and #AcademicSanctuary have drawn thousands of shares, urging the British government to uphold its stated commitment to global education.
Some scholars point out that denying dependents to doctoral students contradicts the UK immigration policy itself, which explicitly includes provisions for PhD families.
“This case exposes the cracks between rhetoric and reality,” one university advocate said. “You cannot claim to protect scholars at risk and then strand them in a war zone.”
Others warned that such bureaucratic failures damage the UK’s international reputation as a safe haven for academic freedom and higher learning.
“If Britain can’t uphold its promise to one Gaza PhD student, how will it convince others it’s serious about humanitarian education?” asked a former Cara fellow now teaching in London.
Despite her heartbreak, Manar al-Houbi remains determined to continue her studies. She said she still dreams of joining the University of Glasgow, completing her doctorate, and returning home to help rebuild.
“My aim was never just to escape,” she said. “It was to learn, to teach, and to bring something meaningful back to Gaza. I still hold on to that hope.”
In Khan Younis, her tent flaps in the wind as she prepares lesson notes by candlelight — a scholar without a classroom, waiting for the world to remember its promise to her.
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