An American diplomat has assured the families of over 2,500 UAE citizens studying in the USA that measures have been taken to prevent reprisals against them following terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
"Most UAE students in the U.S. are fine. Only a handful have had problems," Katherine Van de Vate, public affairs officer of the U.S. embassy in Abu Dhabi, told Gulf News. "We are very concerned - interested, that is - about their situation there," added Van de Vate, during the opening day of a photo exhibition, "Picturing the Century", at the American University in Dubai.
According to Gulf News, UAE students as well as student advisers from various American universities talked to scholarship officials from ADNOC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIB) during the videoconference organised by the embassy. A U.S. Justice Department spokesman stated that 100 cases related to the terror attacks are currently under investigation, although there are no separate data on how many of these cases involve foreign students. A UAE embassy official who handles student affairs in the US reported that only a few UAE nationals have indeed decided to return home, with the largest single group of students - five or six - having decided to temporarily leave their studies at the University of Arkansas. (Albawaba.com)
