  It is thought that a class of broad absorption line (BAL) QSOs, characterised
by Fe absorption features in their UV spectra (called `FeLoBALs'), could mark a
transition stage between the end of an obscured starburst event and a youthful
QSO beginning to shed its dust cocoon, where Fe has been injected into the
interstellar medium by the starburst. To test this hypothesis we have
undertaken deep SCUBA-2 850 $\mu$m observations of a sample of 17 FeLoBAL QSOs
with 0.89 $\leq$ z $\leq$ 2.78 and -23.31 $\leq$ M$_{B}$ $\leq$-28.50 to
directly detect an excess in the thermal emission of the dust which would probe
enhanced star-formation activity. We find that FeLoBALs are not luminous
sources in the submillimetre, none of them are individually detected at 850
$\mu$m, nor as a population through stacking ($F_{s}=1.14\pm0.58$ mJy).
Statistical and survival analyses reveal that FeLoBALs have sub-mm properties
consistent with BAL and non-BAL QSOs with matched redshifts and magnitudes. An
SED fitting analysis shows that the FIR emission is dominated by AGN activity,
and a starburst component is required only in 6/17 sources of our sample;
moreover the integrated total luminosity of 16/17 sources is
L$\geq$10$^{12}$L$_{\odot}$, high enough to classify FeLoBALs as infrared
luminous. In conclusion, we do not find any evidence in support of FeLoBAL QSOs
being a transition population between a ULIRG and an unobscured QSO; in
particular, FeLoBALs are not characterized by a cold starburst which would
support this hypothesis.
