A University of Sheffield student is currently stranded in Gaza, as the Israeli bombardment of the area continues.
The university has been urged to do more to help Said Zaaneen, a 41-year-old Palestinian PhD student who took a leave of absence from his studies in Sheffield in 2021 to return to Gaza to be with his extended family in Beit Hanoun, located in the northeast of the Gaza strip.
Said has lost at least 45 members of his family since October 7 and has been forced to flee to the south of Gaza.
Currently, only foreign nationals are able to cross the Rafah border.
There has been some contact with Said through the university’s Palestine Society, his most recent message read: “I have very limited internet struggling to send texts. We have been displaced from where we were staying. We are making a nylon makeshift shelter near Rafah and we have no other place to go.’’
He had reached out to the university to gain sponsor support for a new student visa and many in Sheffield have campaigned for him and his family to have their names put on the Rafah border crossing list by the British embassy and for local MPs to take action to help Said and his family.
The university is only a licensed sponsor of student visas, they can only be provided by the government.
Said is a part of the Urban Studies and Planning Department researching humanitarian and development interventions in Gaza.
Notably, the Palestine Society organised a public ‘die-in’ at the university’s Students’ Union to raise awareness about Said’s case and campaign for his safe return.
They were also protesting against the university’s affiliation with an IDF reservist and their alleged partnerships with arms manufacturers that supply Israel.
Last Friday, the society also rallied outside the Students’ Union in an effort to accelerate action for Said.
One sign at the protest read ‘Stop arming Israel’ while another said ‘Cut ties with apartheid’.
The university and its Students’ Union claim that they have been in contact with Said and are doing all they can to support him both financially and in terms of his visa.
A spokesperson from the University of Sheffield said: “While we cannot share details about individual students, the university has been in regular contact with Said and is doing all it can to support him, including providing specific financial help, as well as pastoral and wellbeing support.
“The university has also liaised with a number of external partners and contacts around this case including the Russell Group, Universities UK, the British Council and our local MP Paul Blomfield, who has contacted the Home Office and the Foreign Office.
“Ensuring our community is open to scholars and students from across the world is always our commitment and we work hard to provide advice and support to students, which includes helping them understand legal requirements in relation to UK student registration and visas.”
The Students’ Union have maintained that they are working towards an opportunity for Said to leave Gaza as soon as possible. Still, their options are restricted due to the complex legality of the case.
The Palestine Society have urgently called on students, faculty and citizens of Sheffield to spread the word and rally for Said’s freedom and safe evacuation, as well as provide Said with an immigration lawyer, which the university has now done.
The university does not directly provide specialist immigration advice.
Said had been in contact since the 1st of December, when he said: ‘’Honestly we do not know where to go. There is no safe place.’’
If this article or the conflict has affected you in any way, you can access mental health support from the university here.
