LONDON: Former UK Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick privately requested that a Palestinian student’s visa be revoked, The Guardian reported.
Jenrick, who is standing in the Conservative Party’s leadership race, inquired into stripping the visa from Dana Abu Qamar, a 20-year-old Jordanian-Canadian citizen.
The law graduate led the Friends of Palestine society at Manchester University, and was stripped of her visa in 2023 in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
She had delivered a speech at the university highlighting Gazan resistance to Israel’s “oppressive regime,” and was later interviewed on Sky News about her remarks.
The previous UK government canceled her visa on Dec. 1 last year, saying her presence in the country was “not conducive to the public good.”
Court documents have revealed that Jenrick personally intervened in the case to encourage the visa cancelation, The Guardian reported.
Emails show that a member of his team messaged the Home Office to “find out about Dana Abu Qamar” and whether it would be “possible to revoke her student visa.”
Abu Qamar, who has lost 22 relatives in Israel’s war in Gaza, faced criticism after saying on Sky News: “For 16 years Gaza has been under blockade, and for the first time they are actively resisting, they are not on the defense, and this is truly a once in a lifetime experience.
“And everyone is, we are both in fear, but also in fear of what, how Israel will retaliate and how we’ve seen it retaliate overnight, and the missiles that it’s launched and the attacks, but also we are full of pride. We are really, really full of joy of what happened.”
After Oct. 7, Jenrick publicly called for removing visitors from the country if they incited antisemitism, and said visa holders would be subject to conduct reviews.
Abu Qamar is challenging the decision to revoke her visa through a human rights appeal. She said her comments on Sky News were misinterpreted, and that she does not condone the use of violence against civilians.
A spokesperson for the European Legal Support Center, which supports Europeans advocating for Palestinian rights, said: “For a government minister to personally and arbitrarily intervene to remove a Palestinian student from the country and suppress her speech while her family are being killed in Gaza is truly unconscionable.
“Despite Jenrick’s previous statements about the importance of protecting freedom of expression, he seems perfectly comfortable suppressing speech when it comes to Palestine solidarity, seemingly for ideological purposes and political gains.”
A source close to Jenrick said: “A visa is a privilege, not a right. Those that celebrate terror have no place in our country.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will review the previous government’s decision by Sept. 13.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It would be inappropriate to comment while there are ongoing legal proceedings.”
