Matthew Hedges jailing

Two more UK universities cut ties with UAE

Ag AFP

LONDON: The academic backlash against the life imprisonment of Matthew Hedges is growing, with two more UK universities cutting ties with the United Arab Emirates until the Durham PhD candidate accused of spying is released.

Durham University has suspended all field research in the UAE, while lecturers at the University of Exeter, where Hedges did his master’s degree, have voted in favour of an academic boycott and called on the vice-chancellor to suspend all business partnerships with the Gulf state.

In an email to staff on Saturday, Durham’s vice-chancellor, Prof Stuart Corbridge, said: “We are advising a moratorium on all travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for our non-UAE staff and students until Matt is safely back home.”

This extends to the whole university the moratorium adopted by Hedges’ department, the school of government and international affairs, after his arrest in May.

The department’s head, Prof John Williams, said: “As a department we’ve had the moratorium in place for some time and that’s now a university-wide moratorium on staff and student research travel to the UAE. The only students of ours going to the UAE now are citizens from the UAE.”

Lecturers at the University of Exeter have unanimously backed a motion calling on its vice-chancellor, Prof Sir Steve Smith, to lobby for Hedges’ release and to suspend academic relations with the UAE until his situation is resolved.

João Florêncio, the secretary of the Exeter branch of the University and College Union (UCU), said: “Our members are very worried about Matt Hedges’ predicament and the seeming curtailing of the academic freedom of colleagues travelling to the UAE for work. As such, our general meeting has unanimously called for an academic boycott of the UAE until the situation is satisfactorily resolved.

That includes asking that the University of Exeter temporarily suspends its doctoral programme in Dubai and lobbies for the immediate release of Matt Hedges.”