Social Democrats Senator Patricia Stephenson has called Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan “cruel” for denying visas to Palestinian students.
Senator Stephenson said that the Minister for Justice must account for the “inexplicable increase” in visa refusals to Palestinian students after the deadline for application approvals passed this afternoon.
The Social Democrats Senator said, “this government constantly talks about its solidarity and support for the people of Palestine, but today those words ring hollow as the state slams the door shut on the hopes and dreams of students from the West Bank and Gaza.”
“The Ireland-Palestine Scholarship Programme is administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs in close cooperation with the Department of Further and Higher Education. It is therefore baffling that many Palestinian students who have been offered fully funded third level placements under the scheme are now being refused visas by the Department of Justice,” she said.
Senator Stephenson questioned the government’s attitude on the issue.
“While the government insists there has been no change of policy, it has failed to account for the higher visa refusal rate this year,” she said.
“It is believed that just 50 visas were granted to Palestinian students this year – a decrease of 30 from 2025. I am now calling on the Department of Justice to provide updated figures as of today, outlining the number of long-stay and short-stay study visas refused; a breakdown of rejection decisions in respect of students from West Bank and Gaza; and for the Minister for Justice to make a statement on the matter.”
Some of the reasons given by his department for the refusal of visas include gaps in the students’ education or failure to produce original bank statements.
Senator Stephenenson said those excuses are “completely spurious.”
“We are not living in normal times. The Department of Justice cannot be unaware that Gaza has been destroyed by the IDF and is unable to function as a normal society,” she said.
“Despite last-ditch efforts by Trinity College students, who protested overnight at the Department of Justice, today’s deadline for application approvals passed without the breakthrough we had all hoped for.”
The Social Democrats Senator said, “this government cannot claim to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people while simultaneously blocking a small group of them from educational opportunities in Ireland – opportunities approved by our own third level institutions.”
“It is unimaginably cruel to give young people who have lived through a genocide a semblance of hope for a brighter future, only for it to be shattered by a Government department which is supposed to stand for justice.”