They applied for entry to the UK using the Ukraine Family Scheme to join the father’s brother, who has lived in the UK since 2007 and is a British citizen, but this was refused in May last year after the Home Office concluded the requirements of the scheme were not met.
He also detailed submissions by the Home Office which argued the absence of a resettlement scheme for Palestinians in Gaza was a “significant” consideration, and that allowing the appeals would be “a leap” in terms of the UK’s obligations to allow family members living in conflicts entry.
Local growth minister Alex Norris also stressed that the Government had “opposed at every stage” a tribunal’s decision to let a Palestinian family be allowed to live in Britain after applying through a scheme designed for Ukrainian refugees.
Judge Hugo Norton-Taylor said in his judgment: “We conclude that the respondent’s (Home Office’s) refusal of the collective human rights claim does not, on the particular facts of these cases, strike a fair balance between the appellants’ interests and those of the public.
The judge also referenced what he called a “floodgates” argument, in which the Home Office said an obligation to admit the family risked the same outcome applying to those in other conflicts around the world.
