The first group of ill or wounded Gazan children are set to arrive in the UK in the next few days, where they will be treated by the British national health service. This was first announced by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in an interview with The Mirror on Saturday, but has since been independently confirmed by other outlets.
"We are working to get injured children out of Gaza, to be able to help them in the UK," Cooper told The Mirror. "The first group of children has now left Gaza and are on the way, travelling to the UK." The children are currently in another country, being cared for by medics.
"It's a lot of diplomatic work in order to help them actually leave Gaza and then also travel through other countries in order to be able to get to the UK," Cooper added. "But that work is underway and I'm determined to make sure that we can do our bit to help those injured families and also to help students get into their courses this autumn."
The Mirror noted that several children have been brought to the UK already as part of a private charity-led project, but that the Israeli Government had to green-light their evacuations. This marks the first time that children will be treated on the NHS.
While there has been no confirmation of the number of children being evacuated, UK media outlets have estimated it to be between 30 to 50.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer first announced the plans to evacuate the children in July.
On Friday, the Welsh Government confirmed that it will participate in the UK Gaza Medical Evacuation Scheme and is committed to supporting the children, depending on capacity.
"Only a small number of children are likely to come to Wales for treatment," Jeremy Miles MS, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, added.
A biometric visa is mandatory
The nonpartisan British daily, The i Paper, has, however, been critical of the Government's efforts, saying that despite the intention to bring the children "urgently" to the UK, they are still not there after six weeks.
The i Paper claimed that the third-party country where the children are currently is Italy, and that the delay in arrival in the UK is due to governmental red tape. According to the report, the UK Government is insisting that the children’s relatives must travel with a biometric visa which stores information such as facial recognition and fingerprints.
It noted that the need for biometric visas upon entry was previously waived for Ukrainian refugees in 2022.
A cross-party group of 96 Members of Parliament penned a letter to the Government last month calling for the evacuation to be expedited.
Dr Simon Opher, Labour MP for Stroud, who coordinated the letter, told The i Paper that the delay is “unacceptable” and that “every day lost increases the risk to their health”.
In a separate initiative, the UK is endeavouring to evacuate Gazan students with spots at British universities.