Upper Tribunal Upholds Entry for Palestinian Extended Family from Gaza, Rejects Home Secretary Appeal

Upper Tribunal Judge Gemma Loughran has rejected an appeal by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and upheld a lower court ruling that grants entry to Britain for a Palestinian mother-of-three born in Gaza and 17 members of her extended family. The family includes both parents, a brother with his wife and four children, a sister with four children, and another sister with her husband and three children.

Their original application for entry clearance was filed in November 2023.

A human rights appeal succeeded in the lower courts in April 2025. Judge Loughran found that denying entry would violate the right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights and therefore breach the Human Rights Act 1998. She noted that the British-based daughter and her three children had suffered mental health problems linked to their relatives' situation in Gaza.

The judge concluded that refusal would produce consequences of such gravity for the sponsor and her children as to be unjustifiably harsh, outweighing the public interest, and that the decisions were disproportionate and unlawful under section 6 of the Human Rights Act.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the ruling risks opening the floodgates to thousands of Palestinians claiming asylum and called for an urgent further appeal, the abolition of the immigration tribunal, and UK withdrawal from the ECHR. The Home Office declined to comment.

Earlier this month the UK pledged £2 million of support for UNRWA to assist Palestine refugees. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper separately announced £23 million of support for the agency alongside international partners.