Irish and Italian universities have described the ¡°collective effort¡± involved in offering ¡°life-saving¡±?scholarships to students from Gaza,?as institutions elsewhere in Europe urge their governments to follow suit.

An estimated 80 Gazan students have already arrived in Ireland for the 2025-26 academic year, through an operation involving 11 Irish universities, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Justice,?according to Emma Stokes, vice-president for global engagement at Trinity College Dublin.

The evacuations themselves were organised mainly by the Irish government, with universities offering scholarships to students to enable them ¡°to obtain an international student visa and to be?evacuated from Gaza¡±, Stokes said, adding: ¡°These scholarships are life-saving and life-changing.¡±

The process needed ¡°collective effort and understanding¡±?and involved ¡°a lot of moving parts¡±, said Helen Maher, vice-president for equality, diversity and inclusion at the University of Galway.

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¡°As things are unfolding on the ground in Gaza, you lose contact with students. They¡¯re not available to take calls because of the sporadic access they have to technology. At times, we¡¯ve been hoping a student will be on an evacuation list only to find that their name is not on the list because they haven¡¯t got the paperwork required.¡±

While praising the authorities for their efforts in organising the evacuations, Stokes said: ¡°The one area that I think needs to be addressed is sustainable meaningful funding for students fleeing conflicts¡±, explaining that the universities themselves had raised support for the majority of the students, with only a small number in receipt of government funding.

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A help desk, similar to one which was set up in the immediate aftermath of the war in Ukraine, could also help with providing ongoing administrative support, she added.

Palestinian students are expected to arrive in Italy this month through ¡°university corridors¡±, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been working to establish. The Italian government and the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI) collaborated on the establishment of 97 scholarships, available to ¡°Palestinian students residing in the Palestinian Territories¡±, with 35 universities taking part.

The University of Milan received 560 applications for its 22 scholarships, said Stefano Simonetta, vice-rector for student services and the right to higher education. ¡°The Italian Foreign Ministry does not authorise us to give details about the evacuation, but I can say that, obviously, it took a long diplomatic effort with the Israeli and Jordanian authorities to obtain permission to get the students out of the Gaza Strip and bring them to our country via Jordan.¡±

¡°It [has been] very difficult to prevent the scholarship recipients from losing hope, without giving them false expectations about the timing of the operation,¡± Simonetta said. ¡°I tried to do this by writing to them every day via WhatsApp from mid-August onwards. It has been my way to make them feel already students of our university and to keep their hands in mine.¡±

The University of Parma is expecting to welcome nine students with scholarships, although only two students, who travelled to Cairo while the Gaza borders were still open, have received their visas to date. ¡°We¡¯re awaiting the opportunity of a university evacuation corridor,¡± said Simone Baglioni, vice-rector for education.

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¡°The most important obstacle at the moment is that the borders from Gaza are closed to them, and the situation in terms of safety and security in Gaza is so compromised that unless they are included in an agreed humanitarian evacuation programme, they will not be able to join us.¡±

Baglioni said he wanted to see more engagement and coordination among European universities to help young people in Gaza to study.

University efforts in other countries have been less successful. In Belgium, the government has limited evacuations from Gaza to Belgian nationals, their families and those with Belgian visas or residence permits.?Because they cannot reach the Belgian embassy to secure a visa, several recipients of scholarships from KU Leuven have been unable to leave Gaza, a university spokesperson said.

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The French government?, after a Gazan student who received a scholarship from Sciences Po Lilles was alleged to have shared antisemitic content on social media. The rectors¡¯ association??to lift the suspension ¡°as soon as possible¡±. ??

In Ireland, the arrival of students from Gaza does not mark the end of the initiative, Galway¡¯s Maher told?THE. ¡°We have to be really cognisant of the trauma that these students have experienced. The trauma that is ongoing for their family. The complexity of feelings in terms of the guilt that the students feel for those left behind,¡± she said.

As such it has adopted a ¡°wrap-around approach, from counselling to pastoral care to financials¡±.

At Trinity, Stokes said, ¡°We are so aware that these students have suffered significant trauma, and we are determined to help them reach their academic potential. We hope their experience at Trinity is enriching and supportive, not just educationally, but also in every way possible.¡±

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¡°We know many will eventually want to return to their homes and be part of the future of Gaza,¡± Stokes said. ¡°We hope for their sake that they will eventually be able to do that safely, and that their memories of Ireland will sustain them.¡±

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com