€1.2m gift for Gazan students in doubt over visa refusals

A foundation which manages philanthropic donations on behalf of UCD has written to a donor asking them to pause a gift to the college worth €1.2 million until it has certainty around the issuing of study visas by the Irish Government to students from Gaza.

The gift was offered to support more than 20 students from Gaza to complete one and two-year master's programmes at UCD in areas such as public health, engineering, medicine, and urban design and planning.

However, following news of the high rate of visa refusals for students in Gaza offered places at Irish universities, the gift of €1.2 million is now in doubt.

Earlier this week, the Department of Justice said: "Each application is considered on its own merits having regard to all of the information and documentation submitted, the circumstances of the applicant, the purpose of the proposed travel, previous immigration history where relevant, and the requirements of Ireland's immigration policy and legislation."

In correspondence sent yesterday, and seen by RTÉ News, the UCD foundation tells the donor that "in consultation with our Finance Director, and based on the knowledge that we are aware of visas being rejected for Gazan students planning to attend UCD this September, it is our strong recommendation that you wait until we receive confirmation regarding student visas for the academic year 2026-2027 before transferring your total philanthropic gift to UCD Foundation".

"Please be comforted by the fact that our UCD Global team are working hard with Irish government departments to resolve the situation and we remain hopefully but there is no guarantee," it continued.

The letter is accompanied by a spreadsheet which names the students, their courses of study and the amount of funding allocated to each one of them.

Separately, the Irish Universities Association has written to Minister for Higher and Further Education James Lawless about the denial of the study visas.

It is understood the IUA has not yet received a response.

A university source said the representative body was told by the Department of Foreign Affairs that a whole-of-government agreement similar to that in place for Ukraine was needed.

The number of study visa refusals issued to Palestinians so far this year now stands at 51.

The Department of Justice has declined to publish a breakdown of visa approvals and rejections for students applying from Gaza, but earlier this week RTÉ News published figures which showed that by the end of June, 27 study applications from Palestinians worldwide had been rejected and nine approved.

Fresh data given to RTÉ News yesterday shows that by Wednesday of this week, 29 July, a total of 51 long-term study applications had been rejected, and 22 approved.

Since last Tuesday, RTÉ News has been contacted by a significant number of students in Gaza, all in receipt of fully-funded scholarships to study here, whose study visa applications were rejected this month.

"We were on the verge of leaving, and we had even been given a tentative travel date," one student has told RTÉ News.

"The Irish Embassy asked us to submit our passports and we did. Although it wasn't a confirmed date, it gave us hope that everything had finally worked out and that we would be able to continue our studies abroad," they said.

"But only days after submitting our passports and receiving that information we were informed that our visa applications had been refused.

"The reasons were quite unusual, such as there being no guarantee that we would return to Gaza and no proof of sufficient financial support," the student said.

In a statement ahead of a protest planned for later this morning at the Department of Justice, national students' union AMLÉ said it was deeply concerned by the refusals.

"These students have already overcome extraordinary barriers, demonstrating resilience, academic excellence and an unwavering commitment to continuing their education despite living through unimaginable circumstances," the union said.

"The fact that they're now facing a further barrier in the form of strict procedural requirements which don’t account for the realities of living in a warzone, is devastating," it added.

AMLÉ has called on the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Further and Higher Education "to intervene in these cases and to ensure that these students, who have earned a place in their courses alongside all of our members, are given every reasonable opportunity to begin their studies this academic year".