Fifty-one Palestinians are arriving in Ireland to study on scholarships after being evacuated from Gaza, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs has announced.
Simon Harris said the students are arriving in Ireland between Thursday and Sunday as his country aims to offer “practical” ways to support people in the war-torn enclave.
Last week, college students staged a protest in Dublin calling for the government to do more to ensure students could safely leave Gaza to take up the offer of study in Ireland.
Announcing the arrival of the first group, Mr Harris said people across Ireland “feel so strongly about the horrors that are going on in Gaza, the genocidal situation, and I want you to know I share those views too”.
He said in a video on X on Wednesday: “It’s really important we find practical ways in which we can support people in Gaza, and one of those ways is enabling some students to come from Gaza and study in Irish universities.
“We’ve been working really hard to try and secure a safe passage out of Gaza and to Ireland for 51 students who want to study here under a scholarship programme put in place by Irish universities, and I’m really delighted and relived to say that today that evacuation has successfully taken place.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including its embassies in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Türkiye, has worked closely with authorities to ensure the group could make the journey.
The ministry said it has supported more than 200 people to leave Gaza and travel to Ireland since Israel began its attacks in the region, in October 2023.
As exit from Gaza is dependent on permission from authorities in Israel and neighbouring jurisdictions, such assistance is often outside the Irish government's control, the department added.
At last week's demonstration, independent senator Alice-Mary Higgins criticised delays in securing the students' evacuation, while praising the Gazan students who “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”.
Mr Harris said: “We remain gravely concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the recent decision of the Israeli authorities to escalate their military offensive.
“This will only exacerbate the current suffering and ever-rising number of civilian casualties.
“Famine has been declared in parts of the Gaza Strip and is projected to spread further in the coming weeks.
“There is no justification for this man-made humanitarian crisis.
“Ireland has consistently called for an immediate ceasefire agreement and permanent end to hostilities, for the immediate release of all hostages and for the rapid, unimpeded and large-scale entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
This week, the UK government said it was looking to expand support for students in Gaza who hold scholarships at British universities, as it works for the safe exit of its Chevening scholars.
