An orthopaedic surgeon from Gaza was admitted to the Master's in Biomedicine of the University of Minho, but faces difficulties to leave Palestinian territory and get a visa. The institution and the CFP called for the intervention of the government, which points to security and mobility constraints.
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06/10/2026
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Mahmoud Abushehada, an orthopedic surgeon in Gaza Strip, was admitted in May in the master's degree in biomedicine of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho (Uminho) with an average of 17.5 values. However, it needs support from the Portuguese Government to get out of Palestinian territory.
In a letter sent on 1 September by the director of the master's degree in Biomedicine to the Portuguese representative's office in Ramallah (occupied Cisjordan), and quoted by Public, UMinho highlighted the “remarkable clinical course in its area of expertise, and under very challenging conditions” and called for Mahmoud Abushehada to leave Gaza.
“ We strongly call for the necessary solutions to be found as soon as possible so that he can continue his scientific training.”it's readable.
According to the Public, a family member of Mahmoud Abushehada, a Portuguese-Palestinian doctor who has been practicing medicine since 2009 in Portugal, has already contacted the Directorate General for Consular Affairs and the Portuguese Communities (DGACCP), who said that “he has no skills or instructions” to “promote or coordinate” issues related to the exit of citizens from the Gaza Strip.
CFP questioned Government, which admitted “significant embarrassment”
The Portuguese Government has been aware of the case of Mahmoud Abushehada since at least July this year, when the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) questioned the Foreign Minister, Paulo Rangel.
The CFP asked “as explained by the Government that the visa is being denied to Palestinian citizen Mahmoud Abushehada, an orthopedist doctor, residing in Gaza, formally admitted and enrolled in the Master’s in Biomedicine at the University of Minho”.
The party also wanted to know “how the government explains that diplomatic and consular services incorrectly confuse a visa application with a request for State-sponsored evacuation, and thus discard the urgent and necessary response to a pressing situation that is put to the Portuguese State”.
He also asked “what immediate measures will be taken to correct this unacceptable and incomprehensible situation”.
In response, dated 26 August, the Government explained that “a visa application, including for the purposes of higher education attendance, must be submitted in person to a Consular Post qualified for this purpose, complying with the applicant’s identity requirement”.
“ The issuing of visas for Palestinian nationals residing in the Gaza Strip faces significant constraints, resulting from the mobility restrictions imposed and the closure, for security reasons, of the Global VFS Visa Application Centre in Gaza,” he added.
“ In view of the challenges mentioned, the Portuguese State allows students admitted to Portuguese higher education institutions and on national territory to submit visa applications at the Portuguese Representation Office in Ramallah or, alternatively, at the Portuguese Embassy in Cairo,” he explained, adding that the trip to consular posts is the “exclusive responsibility of the applicant, and is therefore subject to the granting of border control”.
To the public, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that “it sought to make the options for access to a consular post in the region more flexible, safeguarding the applicable legal requirements,” but stressed that these “competence exclusively to Israeli authorities, the procedures being unilaterally defined by the COGAT”, the Israeli Defence Unit responsible for government action in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Mahmoud Abushehada is not unique
Mahmoud Abushehada's case resembles that of Ahmed Al Najjar, a student admitted to the Higher Institute of Engineering of Lisbon (ISEL) who also failed to leave the Gaza Strip to come to Portugal.
In a statement on September 15, the ISEL said he had “knowledge of the constraints that currently prevent the student from performing the procedures necessary to obtain the travel documentation and the visa”, manifesting “total availability to collaborate, within the scope of his duties, with the official entities, in the diligence that may contribute to enable the student to arrive in Portugal and the beginning of his academic career in Lisbon”.
O CFP questioned the Portuguese Government in June and also got the answer on August 26 as it happened to Mahmoud Abushehada. In addition, the answers were, word for word, the same in both cases.
O News to Minutes he has already contacted the University of Minho and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the case of Mahmoud Abushehada and is awaiting response.