Seven students from Gaza arrive in Utrecht

The seven students are part of a larger group of students from Gaza who have been admitted by Dutch universities. Utrecht University was supposed to receive nine students, but two dropped out. Their reasons for dropping out have not been disclosed.

The Executive Board and the Utrecht University Fund are awarding scholarships to the seven students for the duration of their studies. The scholarships will also cover their living costs. The students will be studying a range of disciplines, though the exact programmes they are enrolled in have not been disclosed.

Lastly, a crowdfunding campaign organised by professors Birgit Kaiser and Kathrin Thiele will help the students furnish their rooms and cover other initial expenses. It has raised over 10,000 euros so far. Those wishing to donate to the campaign can still do so. 

Taking action
According to the rector, Wilco Hazeleger, UU's initiative to help the Palestinian students reflects the university's “social mission”. Hazeleger: “These scholarships are a relatively small gesture, but they keep the door to education open for students for whom this would otherwise be unthinkable.”

Like other Dutch universities, Utrecht University decided to offer them scholarships after Maastricht University offered five students scholarships to study in Limburg last September. At the time, Utrecht University told the Dutch public broadcasting service, NOS, that it admired Maastricht's initiative. The University Council then encouraged the university administration to take further steps in this direction.

According to NOS, 42 students set off for the Netherlands on Monday. They were identified with the help of the Gazan Student Support Network. 

No easy feat
In the end, the journey proved to be quite a challenge. The Dutch government initially refused to provide consular assistance, leaving the students unable to cross the border into Jordan.

In May, the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant featured the GP Nirmin al Hrazeen (31), who had been awarded a scholarship to specialise as an epidemiologist in Utrecht. “My degree programme in Palestine came to a standstill when the war started," she is quoted as saying. Her husband is also a doctor and has been offered the opportunity to study in Utrecht too. "We were actually due to start in February.”

It took a court case and pressure from the universities involved to make the Dutch government change its mind. The government promised to cooperate, much to the displeasure of the coalition party VVD, which believes that the standard asylum procedure was being “cleverly circumvented”. The first two Palestinian students arrived earlier this month and have started studying in Wageningen.

Peace and quiet
This week, accommodation was prepared for the seven UU students. According to the university, the students are being housed “close to one another". The university will make no further statements about this to preserve the students' privacy. "They should be able to get off to a good start in Utrecht in peace and quiet”.