The Minister of Justice has reversed a decision to refuse three Palestinian students visas allowing them to pursue Irish university scholarships.
The granting of the visas comes after the students challenged Jim O’Callaghan’s refusal of visas in the High Court.
The court had been due to hear the students’ judicial review challenges this week. However, Judge Anthony Barr was told on Wednesday the cases had settled following an offer by the Minister to determine the students’ appeal of the refusals by close of business on Friday.
Susan Doyle of SMD Solicitors and Phoenix Law’s Sineád Marmion, solicitors for the three students, confirmed on Friday that the visas had been granted.
RM Block
A fourth student who had also challenged the Minister’s refusal in the High Court lost an appeal.
The High Court is expected to hear further challenges by prospective Palestinian students to visa refusals next week.
The initial visa refusals were for reasons including that the Gazan students had not provided original documents with their application.
On their behalf, it was argued that the civilian infrastructure for them to go to a bank or post office to get such documents no longer exists in Gaza and the Minister’s stance was irrational, unreasonable, disproportionate, discriminatory and failed to react to the necessary urgency of the situation.
In the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza, more than two million displaced people are living in tents and temporary shelters in the enclave, where an estimated 80 per cent of structures – roughly 200,000 buildings – have been damaged, with about two-thirds of those destroyed, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa.
The Minister had opposed the challenges.
