St Andrews Welcomes Palestinian Students after Evacuation from Gaza

Two Palestinian students have safely arrived in St Andrews from Gaza following months of active work by the University and other programmes to secure their evacuation. On Monday 22 September, Abeer Almassri and Heba Al-Tanani landed in the UK from Jordan, where they had medical and visa checks following their departure from Gaza a few days before. 

Almassri, 28, who will be studying for an MSc in Health Data Science, was awarded a St Andrews Education for Palestinian Students (STEPS) scholarship in July 2024. For more than fourteen months, she was unable to leave Palestine. Al-Tanani, 25, a MSc Software Engineering student, was awarded a Higher Education Scholarships for Palestinians (HESPAL) scholarship with the British Council in March 2025. 

In a statement to The Saint, Almassri wrote: “Now that I have finally arrived in St Andrews, I am overwhelmed with relief and gratitude. My family and I were subjected to the devastating brutality of war and displacement during the last two year[s]. Like so many others in Gaza, we lost our home and many of our loved ones.” 

Almassri credits “the help of [her] family, the team of the STEPS scholarship [programme], the University of St Andrews, and so many kind hearted people” as being crucial to her evacuation’s success. 

Despite the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, evacuation remains extremely hazardous, if not impossible. According to the UK government, formal border crossings out of Gaza have been closed to civilians since 6 May 2024, when the Israeli military took control of the Rafah crossing. The evacuations of Almassri and Al-Tanani, as well as those of 31 other Palestinian university students, was a highly orchestrated operation. 

A spokesperson for the University commented on their involvement in the evacuation operation: “It has been a far from easy task securing [the students’] departure from Gaza and involved a co-ordinated campaign led by St Andrews Public Affairs […] the UK Gaza Scholarship Initiative, other Scottish universities, STEPS Trustees, [...] the Scottish Government [and] the UK Government.”

They continued, “Following a high-level security process, 33 students left Gaza in the early hours of Wednesday 17 September and arrived in Jordan later that evening. Medical and visa checks were carried out under the direction of the British Embassy. The students made the final leg of their journey to the UK on Monday 22 September.”

“This activity has taken months of hard work and commitment by staff across the University who were determined they would do all they could to support these students,” added the spokesperson. “St Andrews is delighted to finally welcome two Palestinian scholars who have been trapped due to the ongoing war in Gaza.”

The University has historically supported the academic journeys of Palestinian students. Since 2011, the University has agreed to waive tuition fees for two Palestinian Master’s students annually, provided the STEPS programme can raise all other expenses. Over the past fourteen years, STEPS has managed to cover travel, accommodation, and maintenance expenses, amounting to a minimum of £15,000 per student for over twenty Palestinian students. 

According to Dr Patrick O’Hare, Chair and trustee of the STEPS scholarship programme as well as an anthropology lecturer, the students’ arrival in St Andrews was nothing less than “a small miracle.” 

Ellen Colingsworth (co-secretary of STEPS), Patrick O’Hare, Heba Al-Tanani, Abeer Almassri at Rector’s Cafe

Dr O’Hare described his formative involvement with the programme in an interview with The Saint: “My story is that I was part of an occupation of Lower College Hall as a student back in 2009 […] We [...] made several demands on the University [involving] cutting ties with Israel, Israeli institutions, Israeli providers, [and] providing scholarships for students from Gaza, [as well as] sending educational equipment over to Gaza [...] The fee waiver for students from Palestine [...] came out eventually from that.”

Dr O’Hare recalled feeling “sympathetic to Palestine [and] sort of helpless in the face of what was going on.” It seemed to him as if “nobody seemed to be doing anything at St Andrews” and so decided to “get a bunch of people together, [...] take some action, and see if we [could] mobilise people.” 

Regarding the situation in Gaza in 2009, he said “a lot pales in comparison to what has happened since.” According to Dr O’Hare, when the conflict in Gaza started in 2023, the University agreed to double the amount of scholarships that it was going to offer. This year, there were five students: “two of them originally from Gaza — but they have come via Egypt — two of them from the West Bank, and [Almassri] who has just arrived from Gaza,” Dr O’Hare explained. 

Dr O’Hare stressed that the challenges faced by these students do not disappear upon arrival in St Andrews. STEPS students have to tackle “culture-shock aspects, the way that the courses are taught, the essays they have to write.” Moreover, being so far away from family, particularly those still in Gaza, “obviously adds a whole layer of […] anguish, difficulty, and pain.”

Dr O’Hare strongly believes that Almassari and Al-Tanani will need “time to gather themselves and rest and process everything they have been through.” 

In response, a spokesperson of the University told The Saint: “During their time here they — like all other sanctuary scholars — will be supported during their studies. STEPS offers the Palestinian scholars a warm and welcoming community where they are supported by trustees and fellow students.”

Almassri and Al-Tanani described feeling hopeful for their futures at St Andrews.

“It has been a long and difficult journey full of uncertainty and loss, but also [of] hope,” Almassri said. “I am determined to make the most of this opportunity, to grow academically and personally, and to use my education to contribute positively in the future.”

Images provided by Dr Patrick O'Hare