A man in the UK, Anwar, from Glasgow, has expressed deep sorrow, believing his sister-in-law, Maryam, would still be alive today if the UK government had allowed her and her family to relocate from Gaza to Britain. Maryam, who died from cancer in August, had been living in Gaza with her husband Hassan and their two young children. Anwar fled Gaza in 2020 and was granted refugee status in the UK in 2021. He and his family applied to bring Hassan, Maryam, and their children to the UK in October 2023, following the significant destruction in Gaza caused by Israeli military operations. However, their request was denied by the UK Home Office, which is the government department responsible for immigration and border control. A key part of the visa process requires applicants to visit a visa application centre (VAC) to provide biometric data, such as fingerprints and a photograph. However, there are no VACs in Gaza, and leaving the territory is extremely difficult for Palestinians due to the ongoing conflict and restrictions on movement. In April this year, the family asked the Home Office to waive the VAC requirement and allow what is known as "predetermination" of their visa application and "biometric excusal," which would allow them to apply without visiting a VAC. The Home Office initially rejected this request, prompting the family to launch a legal challenge. The Home Office agreed to reconsider, but in July, it issued a second refusal. Maryam was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer that had spread to her lungs, shortly after giving birth to their son Ismail, who is now seven months old. Doctors in Gaza said they lacked the resources to treat her. The family provided detailed medical evidence, including test results and referral reports, as well as documentation of their difficult living conditions in Gaza—sleeping in tents, with shortages of food, clean water, and medicine. Despite this, the Home Office refused the family’s request for predetermination and biometric excusal, but acknowledged the severity of Maryam’s condition. In a letter rejecting the visa application, officials noted that while they accepted Maryam's medical risks, they concluded that the family’s circumstances did not meet the threshold for "compelling circumstances" required to bypass the VAC requirement. Maryam passed away on 28 August. Following this, Gordon McKee, a Labour MP representing Glasgow South, raised the family's case with UK ministers, highlighting the exceptional humanitarian situation and urging a personal review of their application. Anwar and Hassan continue to seek urgent intervention from the UK government to protect their remaining family members in Gaza and bring them to safety in the UK. Hassan, speaking from Gaza, expressed deep grief over losing his wife while being unable to leave the conflict zone with his children. He said the Home Office acknowledged the family’s plight but still found their situation insufficient to warrant an exception to the visa process. The Home Office has not commented on the case, as is standard practice.