THE National has been thanked for helping a petition calling for the creation of a UK family visa scheme for Palestinians to achieve 100,000 signatures.
That goal – which was surpassed ahead of the deadline tomorrow – ensures that the issue will be considered for a UK Parliamentary debate.
The Gaza Families Reunited campaign – which started the petition – said they were “grateful” to both The National and our readers for the support.
The National has covered the campaign extensively. This included securing the support of First Minister Humza Yousaf and the newspaper officially backing the campaign with a front page splash.
We delved into the difficulties for Gazans to obtain a UK visa given there’s no functioning visa centre, including an exclusive investigation into how Palestinaians died while waiting for the Home Office to waive “cruel” fingerprint rules.
Finally, we made sure to hear from Palestinian-Scots who were part of the campaign and are calling for the very simple right to reunited with their families under the most strenuous and scary of circumstances.
The campaign noted that one of the UK hotspots where the petition got the most signatures was Glasgow.
In terms of percentage of constituents signing the petition in support of a Gaza Family Scheme, London and Glasgow have some of the highest numbers (the darker colours)
— Gaza Families Reunited (@GazaFamReunited) April 14, 2024
Think your hometown should do better? Share the petition in your community: https://t.co/5tkSGez7Dg pic.twitter.com/dsjDMXPSgN
In a tweet, they wrote: “In terms of percentage of constituents signing the petition in support of a Gaza Family Scheme, London and Glasgow have some of the highest numbers (the darker colours).”
A spokesperson for Gaza Families Reunited: "We are extremely pleased to have reached 100,000 signatures on the petition for a Gaza Family Scheme. Action from the UK Government to enable Palestinians in the UK to bring their loved ones to safety until it is safe to return is long overdue.
"We are grateful to the National and its readers for supporting the petition and hope that the public support it has garnered will put further pressure on the UK Government to take action to reunite Palestinian families from Gaza."
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