Dania Alfaranji should be well into her final year at a prestigious English boarding school. Like many teenage girls, she imagines what her dorm would look like and what clothes she might wear. The world should be full of possibilities.
Instead, the 16-year-old is living in a tent in the back yard of a building in az-Zawayda in southern Gaza, a town reduced to rubble by airstrikes. She gathers firewood, waits desperately for aid trucks to deliver food, and hopes to make it out of the Gaza Strip alive.
To make life worse, she has been separated from her mother, Hayat Ghalayini, who lives in the UK, and has been forced to grow up too quickly.
Dania was 14 when war broke out on 7 October 2023. As a top student, she was awarded a full scholarship to study at Reddam House, an independent boarding school in Berkshire, six months into the conflict. But she was unable to take up the place because of a gap in the British government’s evacuation policy, which allows some university students to leave the Strip but excludes high-school students and post-doctoral students and researchers.
For Dania’s mother, waiting for her daughter in Trafford, Manchester, time has stood still.
“I miss her. I can’t think of anything else,” Hayat tells The Independent. “Everything – cars, electricity, water, roads – reminds me of her. I go to sleep thinking about her, and I dream about just touching her.”
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Hayat, a UK resident through her marriage to Dania’s stepfather in 2022, was separated from her daughter when war broke out. Amid the chaos, Dania’s three older sisters, now in their twenties, made the difficult decision to ask their mother to evacuate, hoping they would be able to join her shortly.
However, prior to the border being locked down in May 2024, evacuation became too expensive, costing between £5,000 and £10,000 per person – an amount the family could not afford. Some of those offering escape operated illegally, charging extortionate prices to get names on evacuation lists.
The scholarship, facilitated through the Horizons Academy for gifted and talented young students and funded by the Nsouli Scholars Programme, offered a “lifeline” for Dania to help her fulfil her dream of becoming a Palestinian diplomat. Yet she has been left stranded while the bombing has intensified – around 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza, according to Save the Children.
Home Office guidance published in September 2025 says that students on full scholarships will be evacuated to a third country for security checks and the completion of the visa process, which includes submitting biometrics. However, it adds that although the guidance is applicable to Chevening scholars and those with full scholarships for university, it “does not include [those applying to] independent schools”.
Without Home Office support, Reddam House is unable to issue a CAS (Certificate of Acceptance for Studies) and Dania cannot evacuate to Egypt or Jordan to obtain her visa.
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“University students who evacuated to the UK less than a month ago didn’t have to pay anything, because the government and embassy was in charge of arranging the whole trip from Gaza until they arrived safely to their schools,” says Dania, who now has a thorough understanding of the evacuation process.
There are currently eight students like Dania, who were awarded scholarships at Reddam and have been unable to take them up. Some students in Gaza have lost their places in the limbo that has ensued.
“They are no longer eligible to keep this scholarship, because of how long they have waited,” says Dania. “This is one of my biggest fears right now. I want to make the most of this scholarship and living abroad, hopefully next to my mother.”
After a ceasefire was announced earlier this month, Dania hopes she will be able to have a shot at a normal life.
“The ceasefire gives a small hope that travelling processes can be easier, or happen faster or smoother, although no solutions have been applied yet for any travel route.”
Hayat is heartbroken that she has been unable to help her daughter through her formative years.
“She’s had to learn to make bread on a wood fire, and just cook and clean and go into the market and buy essentials with her sisters and provide. These are all things that a 16-year-old under normal circumstances wouldn’t need to do,” she says.
“As time passes, I’m terrified I’m not going to be able to recognise my daughter.”
Hayat says the Foreign Office has said it cannot help as Dania is not a British citizen, despite her mother living in the UK. She asked for its help on humanitarian grounds, but has not had a response.
The Independent contacted the FCDO for comment. The Home Office said it did not consider applications from those under the age of 18.
A spokesperson for Reddam House said they could not comment on individual applications, but added: “While we celebrate the opportunities these scholarships provide, we are aware of the extraordinary challenges faced by some of our incredibly deserving recipients.
“We are also committed to remaining flexible in our arrangements, which could include providing the option to defer their studies, if appropriate, ensuring that every student has the best possible chance to benefit fully from this opportunity.”
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Dr Nora Parr, an academic at the University of Birmingham and part of the UK Coalition for Gaza Students, is now working on a campaign to extend the university student scheme to students applying to independent schools, and other applicants including PhD students and researchers.
“Classes have started at this point for most schools, and at some point, it’s too late,” she says. “Everybody wants to see these bright people in education. They want to advance themselves and rebuild their communities.”
Parr says the system needs an overhaul in order to better support those in conflict zones.
“We need a fully functional, thought-out system, where people know what to do. Where they can expect to be treated fairly and humanely given the context that they’re coming from.”
