The early morning silence is unbearable, perhaps worse than any night since October 7, 2023. Bassem Abudagga is desperately waiting for the answer around his apartment in Manchester. He knows from the Whatsapp group of 800 relatives formed by his extended family in Gaza that his wife and two children were hit by Israeli missiles in the west of Khan Younis. His wife Marim did not answer.
“Every minute, I'm with them 24 hours a day. If there's any risk, I keep in touch with them online,” he said. “It depends on the connection, and sometimes they're really bad. Even when I sleep, I keep the notification sound, and when they get out, I keep waking up. When they're in danger, they just text me. It's exhausting because they feel like if I contact them, it's like hope, they'll hold it, and I can't fall asleep.”
On this occasion, a month ago, the contact was lost. Abudagga, a lecturer in business studies at the Al-azhar University of Gaza, is receiving a British Parliamentary Scholarship in the UK, and he is trying to call Mariam's international appeal. But no response. “They were very, very difficult times,” he recalled. “Everyone texted me and asked, 'Do you have any information?' I said, “No information.” “These moments lasted five to ten minutes – but the first message I finally received was my mom [who was also staying in the house]. It says, “We are all safe.” That’s the pure moment of relief. ”
The couple's five-year-old boy Karim couldn't stand the drone's sound, leaving behind the bed where they were both trying to sleep and cried. His nine-year-old sisters Talya and Marim joined him without a cell phone, and they had just hugged on the floor and were frightened. The impact of Israel's pounding broke the windows, but their buildings did not strike directly, and were full of broken glass and dust. This is one of many similar events. “They survived in many cases,” Abu Daga said.
They are still alive and may sometimes be like a miracle. But, to be precise, Marim, Talya and Karim remained in Gaza at all and had not yet evacuated with his father, a problem facing the British Foreign Office and the Home Office. The UK Council awarded the UK three-year scholarship in 2022, awarding the UK three-year scholarship, earning its Ph.D. from York St John University.
Under the UK immigration rules, Abu Daga could have brought his family with him in 2022, but decided he couldn't afford it and he would visit them as much as possible. He was last on a trip back to Gaza just weeks before the deadly Hamas attack on October 7. Abudagga is a foreign student studying and working here (he gave part-time speeches in Manchester to make money), and the government does not question their right to re-rule in Britain. However, it seems without a doubt that it does nothing to achieve it.
“The government could have done something,” Abu Daga said. “I have the right to have family here, and many British citizens have been evacuated. I have all the papers.”
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His case has been brought by Labor Congressmen (York Central), Rachael Maskell and Salford, Rebecca Long-Bailey. Observers first heard Abudagga's case last March. Authorities responded that Marim must obtain fingerprints in order to apply for evacuation for her and her children. But this is impossible because Gaza does not have facilities to stand in Gaza. Abudagga asked to postpone the demand for fingerprints until they crossed the border and entered Egypt – if they could find a way.
The suffering of the Abu Daga family is one of millions of cases in Gaza, but it is unusual for the UK government to take direct responsibility. Rachael Maskell said: “When ministers treat cases like anyone else, it is frustrating when Bassem is the only parent invited to join the University of Gaza to join this UK research program. These are special circumstances that the government must make exceptions and stop hiding behind the bureaucracy, which is a failure to support people in such desperate situations.”
Marim, Talya and Karim now live in a tent near the Gaza waters in the area where Israelis say they are safe. “Of course, this is not safe at all,” Abudagga said. More than 250 members of his wider family have been killed since the beginning of the war. Whenever they are displaced, their lives are uprooted.
Two weeks ago, Abudagga sent a message to MPs and others trying to help saying that the situation was getting worse quickly. He said: “They are in a critical state now: severely traumatized, constantly fear of bombing, suffering from acute hunger and lack of basic needs. Their mother is doing everything she can to take care of them, but the burden has become incredible and unsustainable. But nothing has changed.
Dr. Alexandra Dales, director of Abudagga at St. John's University in York, provided him with additional financial assistance from the hardship fund, not expressing enough to her students. “It is an honor to monitor Basem. He showed incredible perseverance during the conflict and has been researching it. It is frustrating to witness the impact of the conflict on Basem and his family.”
The British Parliament said that “has and will continue to be urgently emphasized in Basim's case.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Abu Daga family case was a problem with the family office, and said: “International students can bring their dependents to the UK based on meeting the eligibility requirements. The visa application center in Gaza is currently closed; however, the visa application center is open, open and operated in Egypt and Jordan.
