A Luxembourg-Palestinian couple has achieved a breakthrough in their efforts to facilitate the evacuation of part of their family from the Gaza Strip.

This initial success, however, came at a steep cost of $20,000, underscoring the desperate circumstances faced by many seeking refuge from Gaza. Despite this achievement, the family's future remains uncertain, with lingering questions about their ability to reunite in Luxembourg.

Heba Nasser and her husband have been trying for months to secure the safe passage of their relatives out of Gaza. In January, Nasser's husband, a Luxembourgish national, submitted an application for family reunification with his father, while Nasser herself submitted an application to be reunited with her parents and her sister. These applications were rejected*, leaving the couple disheartened.

"We had hoped that any deficiencies in our documentation would prompt a request for further evidence, allowing us to rectify any shortcomings. However, our requests were summarily denied within a week," Nasser lamented in an interview with our colleagues from RTL Radio.

In response to these setbacks, Heba Nasser and her husband, with the assistance of their lawyer, filed an ex-gratia appeal against the refusals with the Minister for Home Affairs a week ago.

In recent weeks, the situation has changed dramatically: the family, including the couple, their parents, and their sister, currently finds themselves in Egypt. Having found no other solution, the couple resorted to paying $20,000 to a company that coordinates evacuations to get their family across the border into Egypt. But they cannot stay there.

"They have a visa, a stamp on their travel documents, because they lost their passports when their house was destroyed. With this visa, they cannot stay more than 40 days in Egypt. But we still don't know how long our family will stay here," Nasser disclosed.

Access to medical care is severely restricted, as they do not have a permanent residence permit in Egypt. This predicament is exacerbated by the health challenges confronting Nasser's sick father-in-law and her mother, who suffers from heart problems.

"My mother, even if she stays here, doesn't get the medical care she needs. And my father also has health problems, he can't hear well anymore because of the bombing," shared Heba Nasser.

In an effort to address their family's pressing medical needs, the couple has implored the Minister for Home Affairs to grant an exceptional humanitarian visa for their relatives. They would like the case to be examined as a matter of urgency.

Heba and her husband have received no reply to date.

However, their worries extend beyond immediate family members. Heba Nasser expressed concern for numerous other relatives, including siblings and their partners, nephews and nieces, totalling around twenty individuals.

"When we talk to them, they always ask us to evacuate them because the stench of death is everywhere and there is no future there. And I want to see my nephews and nieces again and give them a hug. They're intelligent, they should be at school. They have ambitions, they have dreams, and now they have no access to healthcare. They don't have access to education. They don't have access to food. These are their fundamental rights, and they don't have access to their fundamental rights," Nasser lamented.

She has given up hope of any help from the government, says Heba Nasser. She has now taken it upon herself to raise funds for the evacuation of her remaining relatives.

*The Ministry of Home Affairs informed our colleagues from RTL Radio that out of three applications for family reunification originating from Gaza, one was rejected because the conditions had not been met. As our colleagues discovered after repeated enquiries, the Ministry considers the couple's two applications as a single file.