Cliff Notes
- The UK government is expediting the evacuation of injured and sick children from Gaza for treatment in the NHS, with specific arrangements still in development.
- Only three children have thus far arrived in the UK for medical care, while more than 50,000 are reportedly injured or killed, highlighting the dire situation.
- Critics, including Nigel Farage, raise concerns about potential immigration implications of the evacuation scheme, emphasizing the need for clarity on the UK’s future role in this humanitarian crisis.
More children from Gaza to be brought to UK for urgent medical treatment | Politics News
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The government has said it is working “at pace” to evacuate children from Gaza who need urgent medical care.
Downing Street today confirmed reports that injured and sick children in Gaza will be treated by specialists in the NHS.
However, it is not clear how many could be brought over or when they will arrive in the UK.
Asked for details, the prime minister’s official spokesperson told journalists: “We are designing a scheme and working at pace to have it set up.
A parent or guardian will accompany each child, as well as siblings if necessary, and the Home Office will carry out biometric and security checks before travel, the Sunday Times has reported.
It is understood this will happen “in parallel” with an initiative by Project Pure Hope, a group set up to bring sick and injured Gazan children to the UK privately for treatment.
Last night, a government spokesperson described treating children with NHS specialists as “the best option for their care.”
However Reform UK leader Nigel Farage suggested it could open the door to more immigration.
He said: “Does this mean we end up with big family reunions, or does it mean we treat children and send them back to Gaza?
“I’ve not seen the full details, but very often it’s a way of opening the door.”
More than 50,000 children are estimated to have been killed or injured in Gaza since October 2023, according to Unicef.
So far, three children have arrived in the UK for medical treatment with the help of the charity Project Pure Hope.
Around 5,000 have been evacuated in total, with the majority going to Egypt and Gulf countries.
Children treated a ‘mere drop in the ocean’ – doctor
Waseem Saeed, a surgeon who visited hospitals in Gaza, told Sky News that while “any doctor will welcome the evacuation”, more “needs to be done” to help children.
“Thousands of injured children and adults, everyday more patients coming in, with severe life threatening, limb threatening, sight threatening conditions who are suffering immeasurably,” he said.
“And that will only stop when the fighting stops, and the killing stops and the maiming stops, and that is the urgent need that needs to be addressed.
“Whilst any doctor will welcome the evacuation of a few lucky children, this is a mere drop in the ocean compared with what needs to be done.”
Sir Keir Starmer said last week that the UK was “urgently accelerating” efforts to bring children over for treatment.
The government has also pledged another £1m to help the World Health Organisation in Egypt provide medical support to evacuated Gazans.
The prime minister told the Mirror: “I know the British people are sickened by what is happening.
Around 100 MPs have signed a letter urging the government to fast track the scheme.
Labour MP Stella Creasy, who co-ordinated the letter, said: “The commitment we all share to help these children remains absolute and urgent – with every day, more are harmed or die, making the need to overcome any barriers to increasing the support we give them imperative.
“We stand ready to support whatever it takes to make this happen and ask for your urgent response.”
Meanwhile, Project Pure Hope has been campaigning for months to create a scheme which would allow for the evacuation of 30 to 50 children.
The charity has raised the money to bring the children and their families to the UK, and cover their medical costs, privately.
