A Middle Eastern nation with a predominantly Muslim population has decided to cease sponsoring students wishing to study in the United Kingdom due to concerns over potential radicalization.
The United Arab Emirates has expressed apprehension that its students in the UK might be exposed to indoctrination by the Muslim Brotherhood, as reported by The Times, a news outlet based in London.
In the UAE, along with several other countries in the Middle East such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, the Muslim Brotherhood is officially recognized as a terrorist organization.
Some nations in Central Asia have also classified it similarly. In the United States, states like Texas and Florida have designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group; however, this classification has not been adopted at the federal level.
During the final leg of his Gulf visit on May 16, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump attended a business forum at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Reuters/Amr Alfiky)
The Emirati Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provides financial support covering “tuition, living allowances, travel, and health insurance for top students pursuing degrees in high-priority fields,” according to the report.
A man mows the grass lawn in the courtyard of Selwyn College, University of Cambridge, England. (Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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.
Egyptian anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters shout slogans and hold posters of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser during a rally to denounce the country’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. (Amr Nabil/Associated Press)
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.
