Delays and visa denials for researchers from Gaza who were selected for the PAUSE program in France

Several researchers from Gaza who were selected for the Collège de France’s PAUSE program have had their arrival in France delayed or prevented due to difficulties with evacuation and the issuance of visas by French authorities. These circumstances have left some of the selected researchers in conditions deemed extremely precarious and dangerous given the security situation in the Gaza Strip. University groups, particularly at Nanterre, have mobilized to call on French authorities—specifically the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior—to facilitate the evacuation and reception of Palestinian researchers at French universities.