A family of 18 from Gaza has won a legal challenge to come to Britain, asserting their right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ruling, which the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood sought to overturn, found that denying the family entry breached the UK's Human Rights Act.
The case was initiated by a mother of three, originally from Gaza, who is now a British citizen and had applied to bring her extended family to the UK. Her relatives include her parents, a brother with his wife and four children, a sister with four children, and another sister with her husband and three children. The Home Office had refused their application under refugee family reunification rules.
The family's original application was lodged in late November 2023, approximately a month after the October 7 Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli military entry into Gaza. The family was granted anonymity by the courts.
A lower immigration court initially ruled in favor of the family in April of the previous year. The Home Secretary appealed this decision to the upper immigration tribunal. However, Upper Tribunal Judge Gemma Loughran upheld the lower court's decision, agreeing that denying the family permission to enter the UK violated Section 6 of the Human Rights Act, which states it is unlawful for public authorities to act incompatibly with Convention rights.
Judge Loughran noted that most adult applicants did not speak English and that the UK-based sister could only accommodate her parents. The lower court had concluded that the applicants would likely require public funds. The ruling also mentioned that the UK-based daughter and her three children had experienced mental health issues attributed to the situation of their relatives in Gaza.
In her decision, Judge Loughran stated that the refusal of entry clearance would result in consequences of such gravity for the sponsor and her children as to be unjustifiably harsh, outweighing the public interest. She found the Home Secretary's grounds for appeal were not made out and upheld the earlier ruling.
This case follows a similar instance last year where another Gazan family successfully used legal challenges to enter the UK. The current ruling has drawn criticism from the Conservative party, with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp calling the decision "shameful" and warning it risks "opening the floodgates to thousands of Palestinians claiming asylum here." He argued for the abolition of immigration tribunals and leaving the ECHR, stating the Conservatives have a plan to secure borders.