Alwaght- Hundreds of foreign students have been banned from studying science lessons in UK universities on the alleged grounds that they may learn about nuclear warfare, a media report says.
Some 739 student from outside the European Union have been prevented to take a range of courses about nuclear, biological and chemical sciences over security concerns since 2007, the British daily The Independent said on Sunday.
British Universities are required to vet all the students from outside the EU under the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) over fears they might use the knowledge they gain to build weapons of mass destruction.
Some British legislators have widely criticized the scheme, saying that it may have contributed to a decrease in the number of international students applying to UK universities in recent years.
Others are concerned that the scheme only applies to students from outside the EU and does not extend to British-born students.
“The fact 739 students have had to be barred indicates this is grounds for serious concern,” said John Stanley, who chairs the House of Commons’ Arms Exports Controls Committee.
“It is extraordinary given the threat we face for the (UK) government to go on refusing to extend this to those in the UK,” Stanley added.
A number of weapons experts cooperating with terrorist groups across the world especially in Syria and Iraq have reportedly they learned their skills in UK colleges and universities.
In February, the US National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) said in an estimate that more than 20,000 individuals from around the world, including many Westerners, have traveled to Syria to join the ISIS and other extremist groups.
Foreign militants from over 90 countries, including at least 3,400 people from Western states and more than 150 Americans, have gone to Syria to join the terrorist groups there, the NCTC added.
Security officials in Europe fear that European citizens who have joined the terrorist groups in the Middle East will use their combat skills against their homeland upon returning home.
The ISIS terrorists currently control parts of Syria and Iraq. They have carried out heinous crimes in the two countries, including mass executions and beheadings of people.
