BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom
The BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom was set up to monitor and defend academic freedom in the research, study and teaching of Middle East Studies in the UK and anywhere in the world, including in academic institutions in the Middle East and North Africa.
To learn more about how the committee works, please see the Terms of Reference.
The current Chair of the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom is Lewis Turner (Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Newcastle University).
Latest Statement/Letter
We have written to the UK Home Secretary to express our serious concern regarding the reported introduction of an “emergency brake” on student visas for applicants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan.
This decision raises significant concerns regarding the academic freedom, mobility, and equal treatment of students and scholars from the affected countries. Measures of this nature risk excluding individuals on the basis of nationality and, in doing so, undermine the principles of openness and international exchange that underpin the UK’s higher education sector. They also deprive universities of the invaluable contributions made by students and researchers whose lived experience and contextual knowledge enrich teaching and research, particularly within the social sciences.
We respectfully urge the Home Office to reconsider this approach and to engage with the higher education sector and relevant stakeholders in developing policies that address your concerns without undermining academic freedom, international collaboration, and the UK’s longstanding commitment to educational openness.
27 March 2026
Previous Statements
Please find here the list of statements published by the Committee on Academic Freedom.
Previous Letters
Please find here the list of public letters published by the Committee on Academic Freedom.
Database of Expertise
The Database of Expertise in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies provides a publicly available list of MENA experts with their research and areas of expertise.
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