The UAE move was linked to concerns over what it sees as the risk of Islamist radicalisation on UK campuses. (Photo: AP)
US Vice President JD Vance has reacted to news reports about the United Arab Emirates (UAE) restricting funding for its citizens who want to study at British universities, due to fear of them being radicalised on campuses.
“Some of our best Muslim allies in the Gulf think the Islamist indoctrination in certain parts of the West is too dangerous,” Vance said in a post on X.
Some of our best Muslim allies in the Gulf think the Islamist indoctrination in certain parts of the west is too dangerous.
Earlier, The Financial Times had reported that no UK universities were named in the UAE Higher Education Ministry’s list of global institutions for which scholarships would be approved.
UAE has also said it would not recognise qualifications from academic institutions that are not on the accredited list.
The list, which was published in June, had universities in countries including the US, Australia, Israel, and France, but not a single name from the UK, which is home to some of the most famous canters for academics.
Fear of radicalisation
The FT report said that the UAE move was linked to concerns over what it sees as the risk of Islamist radicalisation on UK campuses.
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The UK has refused to ban Muslim Brotherhood. (Photo: Reuters/ File)
“[The UAE] don’t want their kids to be radicalised on campus,” an unnamed source told FT.
The sticking point appears to be the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Islamist movement that was founded nearly a century ago. Since then, it has inspired several radical Islamist and Jihadist groups around the world.
It has been banned and listed as a terrorist group in several countries in the Middle East, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Syria, and Jordan. Several Western nations, including the US, Germany and France, have also moved to restrict the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in their countries.
Egyptian protesters and Muslim Brotherhood members shout slogans against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the government during a demonstration protesting the government’s decision to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, in front of the Press Syndicate in Cairo, Egypt, April 15, 2016. (Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
According to the FT report, the UK has decided not to ban the Muslim Brotherhood group.
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The UAE has been campaigning for years to get the Muslim Brotherhood banned in the UK. Last year, the Sir Keir Starmer government had said the matter was under “close review”.
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The UAE move was linked to concerns over what it sees as the risk of Islamist radicalisation on UK campuses. (Photo: AP) 
