Scotland’s migration minister has urged the British government to expand the number of Palestinian people who can join their family in the UK.

In a letter to UK minister Tom Pursglove, Emma Roddick pushed for the Refugee Family Reunion scheme to include “immediate and extended family, including parents, children over 18, siblings and their children”.

The current system allows only for partners and children under 18 to join family in the UK.

Roddick suggested the minister meet with families of people stuck in Gaza and hear their “harrowing experiences”.

She also called for the Home Office to waive the need for biometric data to be collected for Gazans looking to leave before they arrive in the UK, or to transfer those trying to come here to a site where they can make an application under the current system.

“The Scottish Government and the Scottish Refugee Council fully support the aims of the Gaza Families Reunited campaign alongside more than 74,000 people who have signed a public petition as well as more than 75 migrants’ rights organizations and law firms across the UK.