Lecturers boycott Dubai campus in backlash over life sentence

ACADEMICS at Birmingham University voted yesterday to boycott its new campus in Dubai in protest at the jailing of Matthew Hedges.

Birmingham-based lecturers will refuse to teach in Dubai and will not provide the campus with any academic support, such as course materials and marking exams.

The move – following a vote by the University and College Union (UCU) – was the first tangible evidence of the backlash against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the jailing of Mr Hedges, a PHD student at Durham University.

The tensions between the UK and its close ally UAE over Mr Hedges’ imprisonment prompted MPS to demand Britain re-examine military ties with the Gulf state.

Johnny Mercer, a former Army captain and Conservative member of the defence committee, said: “Our defence assistance, mentoring and intelligence relationships alone with this country should preclude absurd things like this happening. From a friend and partner, it is simply unacceptable and consequences must be immediate until he [Mr Hedges] is released.”

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is thought to train about 10 Emirati officers each year while the UK has about 200 Armed Forces personnel stationed permanently in the UAE.

The furore may also hit tourism to the Gulf state. Dubai in particular has spent the past decade diversifying from oil to turn itself into a popular resort, but travel experts believe holidaymakers could be put off. One travel company, 101 Holidays, yesterday pulled a promotional Dubai holiday deal from its monthly newsletter to customers.

A million Britons went on holiday to the UAE in 2017, making it the UK’S 13th most popular holiday destination behind Greece and Turkey. Sport may also be hit if the row continues. Abu Dhabi is hosting the F1 grand prix this weekend, although any dignitaries from the UK who had planned to go are likely to stay away. Manchester City Football Club, which is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, refused to comment on Mr Hedges’s sentence in the face of calls on social media for a boycott of the club.

James Brackley, Birmingham’s UCU branch president, said that academics are “outraged” at both Mr Hedges’s treatment and the university’s “refusal to address the serious issues we have raised regarding its campus in Dubai”.

Several British universities have set up campuses in the region, including London Business School.

But Sam Gyimah, the universities minister, said he would not support an academic boycott, adding that student exchanges should continue with countries even if there is a “profound policy disagreement” with the UK.