As Nettle said, boundaries are a huge problem when mixed with cultural differences. How to tell where the cultural difference ends and abuse begins?
In some societies women are routinely used and abused by their men. But not all women. And not all Arab men are abusers. Just a certain kind of man. This kind of man will abuse women from his own country if he thinks he can get away with it. But the ideal target is always a westerner, as they are more open to sob stories about exile etc, more easily bowled over by "exotic" looks and accent, and when unreasonable behaviour is questioned he can wave the cultural card. And of course, the UK is a country where people are tolerant and respectful of cultural differences.
He can get away with a lot this way, as foreign partners rarely know a great deal about ME culture, apart from what ME man himself tells them. He certainly never tells them that the decent people in his own country would despise him for living the way he does - the only ones who would admire his way of life are other tossers like himself, from the dregs of their society.
I've lived in an Arab country for many years, I've seen so many cases of manipulation and abuse. There is a certain attitude that it's ok to take a woman for whatever you can get out of her, if she hands over the money it's her own fault for being naive. The men who manipulate foreigners like this have no conscience, no compassion. Love is an alien concept to them, but they are great actors and psychologists - they know exactly which buttons to press to get what they want. They say all the things the woman wants to hear, and quickly get her emotionally dependant. Then they can gradually revert to type (it gets tedious, putting on an act all the time), but switch back to wonderful lover mode when necessary to keep the woman hooked.
Love has never been high on the list in ME relationships anyway - in arranged marriages it is a union of land, money, clan. Love doesn't even enter into it, it's just a bonus if it happens. Where I live, arranged marriages are much rarer now. Some young people marry for love, but plenty still marry for what the partner can bring them materially.