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BRUSSELS, Belgium: Belgium\u2019s top universities condemned on Monday the government\u2019s refusal to help 13 students from war-torn Gaza who received scholarships at Belgian universities reach the country.<\/p>\n
Brussels set aside plans to evacuate the Palestinian students last week in a case that has split the coalition government.<\/p>\n
The rectors of the European country\u2019s top 10 universities expressed their \u201cdismay\u201d at the move in a letter, accusing the administration of using the students as \u201cbargaining chips\u201d in a \u201cdisgraceful political horse-trading.\u201d<\/p>\n
Centrist Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot has advocated in favor of evacuating the students but has faced opposition from the Flemish conservatives party of Prime Minister Bart De Wever, according to a government source.<\/p>\n
Prevot said one member of the five-party coalition demanded concessions on migration, including the creation of deportation centers, in return for greenlighting the evacuations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey must not be treated as bargaining chips or as variables to be adjusted in political debates on migration,\u201d the rectors wrote of the Gaza students.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir cases must be assessed for what they are: those of students and researchers who have been awarded scholarships on the basis of their academic merit and who have all expressed their intention to return to their home countries to contribute to their reconstruction.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students are among about 1,500 Palestinians in Gaza currently waiting to reach Belgium, having been granted the right to do so, mainly under family reunification rules, according to several NGOs.<\/p>\n
Yet, evacuations from the Palestinian territory at war with Israel are proceeding at a trickle, with activists and now the universities accusing the government of deliberately slowing down the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscussions in recent weeks also show that the obstacles cited do not stem from insurmountable constraints but rather from a lack of political will,\u201d the university chiefs wrote.<\/p>\n
The case is not isolated, with Palestinian students hoping to study in Italy, Turkiye, the Netherlands, Germany also reporting delays in recent months.<\/p>\n
Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,221 people, according to official Israeli figures.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s offensive has since claimed at least 73,470 lives in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, which operates under Hamas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n