Belgian university rector urges government to allow entry of 13 Gazan students

The rector of Belgium’s KU Leuven University called on the government to allow 13 Palestinian students from Gaza to enter the country and begin their studies, public broadcaster VRT reported on Wednesday.

Speaking to the broadcaster, Severine Vermeire said she was “angry and indignant” over the uncertainty surrounding the students, three of whom were scheduled to begin their studies at KU Leuven this week.

“There is only one right decision: those 13 students must be able to come to Belgium,” she said.

Vermeire said the university considers the students victims of what she described as “political games” and said Belgian university rectors have been raising the issue with the federal government for months.

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“We have written letters to (Asylum and Migration) Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt, to (Foreign) Minister Maxime Prevot, and to the Prime Minister (Bart De Wever),” she said.

“We continue to exert pressure and are doing so together, in the hope that the federal government will still make a decision,” Vermeire added.

According to local media reports, Prevot has advocated in favor of evacuating the students but has faced opposition from De Wever’s Flemish conservative party.

The rector stressed that the students are seeking to enter Belgium to pursue higher education rather than through irregular channels.

She also pointed to other European countries that have admitted Palestinian students from Gaza, saying that in recent days around 170 students had found accommodation in France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.

“Why can’t those 13 students come and pursue their studies at a Belgian university, then?” she asked.

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