Bhaijaan
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This is a very strong stand and a very very important and historic development.
UK has emerged as the epicentre of Islamic radicalisation over the years. Things have gone seriously bad in that country. The streets are dirty and unsafe with all these foreign aliens trying to impose a backward culture on people.
UAE on the other hand is the beacon of hope for the free world. It must protect itself because it’s beautiful, safe and inclusive like no other place in the world.
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UAE cuts funds for citizens keen to study in UK over Muslim Brotherhood tensions
The United Arab Emirates has restricted funding for its citizens who want to study at British universities, the latest sign of tensions over the UK’s decision not to proscribe the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group.
Abu Dhabi’s decision to exclude UK institutions from a list of universities eligible for state scholarships comes as relations between the two historic allies have frayed in recent years.
In June, the UAE higher education ministry published a list of global universities for which scholarships would be approved and qualifications certified, as part of reforms that limited funding to the best-performing institutions
The list included universities in countries including the US, Australia, Israel and France, but not the UK, which is home to many of the world’s top academic institutions.
The exclusion of British universities is linked to anxiety in the UAE over what it sees as the risk of Islamist radicalisation on UK campuses, according to three people familiar with the matter.
When UK officials queried the absence of British institutions on the June list, UAE officials said the omission had not been an “oversight”, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions.
“[The UAE] don’t want their kids to be radicalised on campus,” the person added.
In response, UK officials underscored the importance of academic freedom, the person said.
In 2023-24, 70 students at UK universities — out of an overall higher education student population of almost 3mn — were reported for possible referral to the government’s Prevent deradicalisation programme showing signs of “Islamist radicalisation”, nearly double the previous year.
Since the 2011 popular Arab uprisings, the UAE has imposed a harsh clampdown on domestic Islamist activity and intervened regionally in a bid to limit the role of political Islam.
Under UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi has also for years questioned the UK’s decision not to proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s administration last year said the matter was under “close review”.
A comprehensive UK government review into the Muslim Brotherhood in 2015 said the group had not been linked to terrorist-related activity in and against Britain.
Nigel Farage, whose rightwing populist Reform UK party leads in British polls, has vowed to ban the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes prime minister. The UAE government paid for Farage to visit the country last year, the FT reported this week.One UK-based academic downplayed UAE concerns about the extent of any Islamist activity within UK universities, but they acknowledged that the Israel-Gaza war had “a destabilising impact” on British campuses.The UK has been a popular destination for Emiratis, who enjoy generous scholarships from their government to study internationally.
Federal funding for Emiratis wanting to begin studying in the UK was already being denied before June as bilateral tensions have grown, according to people familiar with the matter. One said students who had already begun courses continued to receive funding.
In the year ending September 2025 there were 213 students from the UAE granted visas to study at UK universities, a decline of 27 per cent from a year earlier and a 55 per cent drop from the year ending September 2022.
The exclusion of UK universities by the UAE is the latest fracture in the countries’ relationship. It follows disagreements over an Abu Dhabi-backed attempt to purchase The Daily Telegraph newspaper in November 2023, the UAE’s alleged backing of paramilitary forces in Sudan — which it denies — and the English Premier League’s case against Emirati-owned football club Manchester City over its finances.
UK officials said it was unclear how total the ban on scholarships was in practice, saying they were aware of cases of some UAE military personnel still getting scholarships. Some wealthier Emiratis have continued to send their children to study in the UK, paying the fees directly.
But the UAE has also said it would not recognise qualifications from academic institutions that are not on the accredited list, meaning degrees from UK universities have less value for Emiratis.
UK universities
British universities’ reliance on Chinese fees fuelling self-censorship, say academics
A UAE official declined to comment on the apparent exclusion, saying the bilateral relationship remained strong.
The row has come despite the UAE being an increasingly popular location for UK universities to open campuses, with Dubai sites for leading institutions including the University of Manchester and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
Downing Street on Friday said: “All forms of extremism have absolutely no place in our society, and we will stamp them out wherever they are found.
“We offer one of the best education systems in the world and maintain stringent measures on student welfare and on campus safety.”
The UAE foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
www.ft.com
UK has emerged as the epicentre of Islamic radicalisation over the years. Things have gone seriously bad in that country. The streets are dirty and unsafe with all these foreign aliens trying to impose a backward culture on people.
UAE on the other hand is the beacon of hope for the free world. It must protect itself because it’s beautiful, safe and inclusive like no other place in the world.
------------------------------
UAE cuts funds for citizens keen to study in UK over Muslim Brotherhood tensions
The United Arab Emirates has restricted funding for its citizens who want to study at British universities, the latest sign of tensions over the UK’s decision not to proscribe the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group.
Abu Dhabi’s decision to exclude UK institutions from a list of universities eligible for state scholarships comes as relations between the two historic allies have frayed in recent years.
In June, the UAE higher education ministry published a list of global universities for which scholarships would be approved and qualifications certified, as part of reforms that limited funding to the best-performing institutions
The list included universities in countries including the US, Australia, Israel and France, but not the UK, which is home to many of the world’s top academic institutions.
The exclusion of British universities is linked to anxiety in the UAE over what it sees as the risk of Islamist radicalisation on UK campuses, according to three people familiar with the matter.
When UK officials queried the absence of British institutions on the June list, UAE officials said the omission had not been an “oversight”, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions.
“[The UAE] don’t want their kids to be radicalised on campus,” the person added.
In response, UK officials underscored the importance of academic freedom, the person said.
In 2023-24, 70 students at UK universities — out of an overall higher education student population of almost 3mn — were reported for possible referral to the government’s Prevent deradicalisation programme showing signs of “Islamist radicalisation”, nearly double the previous year.
Since the 2011 popular Arab uprisings, the UAE has imposed a harsh clampdown on domestic Islamist activity and intervened regionally in a bid to limit the role of political Islam.
Under UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi has also for years questioned the UK’s decision not to proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s administration last year said the matter was under “close review”.
A comprehensive UK government review into the Muslim Brotherhood in 2015 said the group had not been linked to terrorist-related activity in and against Britain.
Nigel Farage, whose rightwing populist Reform UK party leads in British polls, has vowed to ban the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes prime minister. The UAE government paid for Farage to visit the country last year, the FT reported this week.One UK-based academic downplayed UAE concerns about the extent of any Islamist activity within UK universities, but they acknowledged that the Israel-Gaza war had “a destabilising impact” on British campuses.The UK has been a popular destination for Emiratis, who enjoy generous scholarships from their government to study internationally.
Federal funding for Emiratis wanting to begin studying in the UK was already being denied before June as bilateral tensions have grown, according to people familiar with the matter. One said students who had already begun courses continued to receive funding.
In the year ending September 2025 there were 213 students from the UAE granted visas to study at UK universities, a decline of 27 per cent from a year earlier and a 55 per cent drop from the year ending September 2022.
The exclusion of UK universities by the UAE is the latest fracture in the countries’ relationship. It follows disagreements over an Abu Dhabi-backed attempt to purchase The Daily Telegraph newspaper in November 2023, the UAE’s alleged backing of paramilitary forces in Sudan — which it denies — and the English Premier League’s case against Emirati-owned football club Manchester City over its finances.
UK officials said it was unclear how total the ban on scholarships was in practice, saying they were aware of cases of some UAE military personnel still getting scholarships. Some wealthier Emiratis have continued to send their children to study in the UK, paying the fees directly.
But the UAE has also said it would not recognise qualifications from academic institutions that are not on the accredited list, meaning degrees from UK universities have less value for Emiratis.
UK universities
British universities’ reliance on Chinese fees fuelling self-censorship, say academics
A UAE official declined to comment on the apparent exclusion, saying the bilateral relationship remained strong.
The row has come despite the UAE being an increasingly popular location for UK universities to open campuses, with Dubai sites for leading institutions including the University of Manchester and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
Downing Street on Friday said: “All forms of extremism have absolutely no place in our society, and we will stamp them out wherever they are found.
“We offer one of the best education systems in the world and maintain stringent measures on student welfare and on campus safety.”
The UAE foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
UAE cuts funds for citizens keen to study in UK over Muslim Brotherhood tensions
Emirates’ fear of Islamist radicalisation weighs on exclusion of British universities from scholarships
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