Palestinians from Gaza will join France “soon”, announces the Quai d’Orsay

Visa applications from Palestinians from Gaza currently blocked in Egypt “are being investigated by the French authorities”, announced to AFP on Tuesday, July 16, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It specifies that “some of them will join France soon.”

“We are closely monitoring the situation of the beneficiaries of the Pause program [Programme national d’Accueil en Urgence des Scientifiques et des artistes en Exil], of their families, as well as several scholarship holders”also declared the Quai d’Orsay, adding that the requests “confirmed” as part of this program concerned Tuesday “about ten people”, a fluctuating number.

The daily life The world wrote on Monday that around thirty Palestinians from Gaza – artists, intellectuals and journalists – “who managed to flee the coastal enclave”, had obtained a promise of employment in France. “But although they have the support of the Quai d’Orsay, their file has been blocked for weeks at the Ministry of the Interior,” the newspaper claimed.

The Quai d’Orsay did not confirm this number, stressing that the Pause program included both confirmed applications, applications under review and candidates. It also specified that some people mentioned in the article were not part of this program. Asked by AFP about the number of visas already granted to Palestinians fleeing the war in Gaza, the ministry was also unable to provide information.