For the first six months after the National Rehabilitation Centre opened its doors in Abu Dhabi in 2002, such was the stigma surrounding addiction that only one person came forward for help. Since then, as word of its compassionate programmes has spread, the centre has gone from strength to strength and helped more than 3,500 patients. Now the centre, which this week is hosting a three-day World Health Organisation conference to improve international collaboration in the fight against substance abuse, is to become the foundation of a new training institute that will spread its progressive philosophy of care throughout the region by training staff to treat addicts.
Addiction is a problem that affects every nation and, despite Islam’s categoric condemnation of all intoxicants, a small minority in the Arab world suffer from it. In Abu Dhabi, a rise in drug-related arrests has necessitated the creation of dedicated courts. In the first six months of this year, police seized 600kg of narcotics and arrested 1,200 dealers and users. The work of the National Rehabilitation Centre, founded at the direction of Sheikh Zayed in 2000, is a perfect example of an increasingly nuanced and empathetic approach to this issue.
The judicial system has also recognised that punishment alone is no solution to what is essentially a medical problem. In 2016 the offence of using illegal drugs was downgraded to a misdemeanour, minimum sentences were halved and alternatives to prison, including fines, community service and enrolment in a rehabilitation programme, were introduced for first-time offenders.
It is right that smugglers and suppliers, who cynically exploit human frailties, should continue to feel the full weight of the law. But the UAE’s enlightened attitude to their victims recognises that human beings are fallible. Over the past 16 years, the National Rehabilitation Centre has rescued thousands from the abyss of addiction, helping them to return to their loved ones and their lives as useful members of society. By treating them all as patients, not criminals, the centre and its devoted staff daily honour the doctrine of compassion that is central to Islam.
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The Freedom Artist
By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
