Middle Eastern country stops sponsoring students studying in Britain over fear of radicalization: report
A Muslim-majority country in the Middle East will no longer sponsor students seeking to study abroad in Britain, claiming that it fears students will become radicalized.
The United Arab Emirates believes that its students in Britain could be subject to indoctrination and radicalization by the Muslim Brotherhood, according to London-based news outlet The Times.
In the UAE and several other Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, the Muslim Brotherhood has been designated as a terror organization.
Some Central Asian countries have also given it that designation. In Texas and Florida, the Muslim Brotherhood has been labeled a terror group, though the federal government has not labeled it as such.
The Emirati Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs offer funding to cover “tuition, living stipends, travel and health insurance for top-performing students who are pursuing degrees in priority fields,” according to the report.
It will still offer its robust state-sponsored study abroad program for students who wish to study in other countries.
The country has not completely banned studying in Britain, according to the report, but those who wish to do so will have to pay their own way.
The UAE has battled against the Muslim Brotherhood across the Middle East for years. In 2013, it backed Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who overthrew a Muslim Brotherhood-linked regime, according to Reuters.
It has also worked with proxies to undermine the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen and the African countries of Chad and Sudan.
In 2015, an inquiry by the British government determined that the Islamist group is contrary to British values and that membership in the group could be a sign of extremism. Still, the country did not designate it as a terror group.
Certain Muslim interest groups in the U.K., including the Muslim Association of Britain, the British Muslim Initiative and the Islamic Society of Britain have been suspected of being linked to Muslim Brotherhood ideology.
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