By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 19th AUGUST 2008
BAHRAIN human rights activists have joined forces with their counterparts in the region to demand that Palestinian students trapped in Gaza be allowed to leave to resume their studies abroad.
Twenty-three rights groups, mostly from Egypt, have signed a petition calling on the Egyptian government to take measures that will facilitate the process.
They want the students to have immediate permission to pass through the Rafah boarder crossing to resume their studies in the universities they have enrolled in other countries.
By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 19th AUGUST 2008
BAHRAIN human rights activists have joined forces with their counterparts in the region to demand that Palestinian students trapped in Gaza be allowed to leave to resume their studies abroad.
Twenty-three rights groups, mostly from Egypt, have signed a petition calling on the Egyptian government to take measures that will facilitate the process.
They want the students to have immediate permission to pass through the Rafah boarder crossing to resume their studies in the universities they have enrolled in other countries.
It comes after Egyptian troops sealed the border with the Gaza Strip after the Israeli authorities imposed a complete restriction on the area.
The now dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights vice-president Nabeel Rajab said that after the Rafah boarder crossing was sealed, the Israeli authorities allowed the students to travel through the Israeli boarder.
“As the new terms closes in, hundreds of Palestinian university students are blockaded in Gaza and this could threaten their right in education and resuming their second year studies,” he said.
“This will cause these students to lose their scholarships they received in a number of universities in Europe and America as well as Arab countries, with Egypt on top of the list.”
Mr Rajab said that a few number of students have been able to leave through the Israeli boarder after diplomatic pressures from some European countries to attend universities in the UK and Belgium.
“Independent rights reports show that the Israeli authority pressures the students to be recruited as security guides in return for allowing them to leave Gaza,” he said.
“This is what usually stops most students from trying to cross through the Israeli boarder, in fear of being followed or detained if they refuse the recruitment offer.”
He said that the only alternative for the university students was to leave through the Rafah boarder crossing and then travelling to the countries where they attend university.
A number of rights organisations have recorded unprecedented deterioration in humane conditions in Gaza caused by the blockade, said Mr Rajab.
They have recorded deteriorating health conditions, which thousands of citizens are suffering from, he added.
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