Regular readers will know that I have a particular interest in the plight of Syrians. That’s partly a matter of humanitarian concern and partly personal: some of my wife’s family in Aleppo are mourning a recent death, while others are refugees in Turkey, waiting to hear whether a European country will grant them asylum.
Around 10.5 million people, 45 per cent of the population, have been displaced, 6.5 million inside Syria and 4 million as refugees. Around 190,000 people have been killed and 10.8 million people inside the country are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The figures, and the suffering, are horrendous.
Last week, Amnesty International issued a report titled Left out in the cold: Syrian refugees abandoned by the international community. It makes for grim reading.
Citing UN figures, it says that only 63,170 resettlement places have been offered by countries around the world since the conflict began. In the European Union, Germany has pledged 30,000 places, nearly half the total, and Germany and Sweden together have received 96,500 new asylum applications in the last three years, 64 per cent of all such applications in the EU. The remaining 26 EU countries have pledged only 5,105 resettlement places, according to Amnesty. Britain has offered only to admit “several hundred”. Russia – an ardent supporter of the Al Assad regime in Syria – hasn’t pledged a single place.
Amnesty International should be applauded for its effort to draw attention to the issue. But, not for the first time, it appears to have an innate bias and to lack objectivity when dealing with the UAE. The Amnesty UK campaigns manager has posted on Twitter saying: “Gulf states (including the UAE) haven’t offered to take a single refugee from Syria. Heartless”. But the truth is rather more complex, as he ought to know.
By “refugee”, does Amnesty mean only those formally registered with UN agencies? It says that its figures “include UNHCR-coordinated resettlement programmes, humanitarian admission, sponsorships, family reunification and other visa regimes issued to facilitate the relocation of Syrian refugees”.
In the UAE, we have large resident communities of Syrians and Palestinians with Syrian travel documents. I know that residence visas and renewable visit visas have been granted to many family members of those who are already here. At a rough guess – and perhaps the Ministry of Interior could tell us – I estimate that thousands have been admitted to the safety of the UAE in this way, whether or not they have ever formally registered with the UN as refugees. Certainly many have not done so.
Yet the Amnesty report fails to acknowledge that the UAE has opened its doors in this manner. Why? Does Amnesty have an aversion to admitting that there is anything good about the UAE? The report’s compilers did not even consult a colleague who works on UAE issues.
The report also lists financial pledges made to the UN’s 2014 humanitarian appeal for Syrian refugees, noting that the UAE has offered a mere $10 million, accompanied by a caveat that “countries may have made other contributions to the main host countries or agencies working with Syrian refugees through other channels.” Yes, indeed.
The UAE funded one of Jordan’s largest refugee camps and has provided many more millions of dollars through the Red Crescent Authority and other channels. Yet Amnesty suggests only that the country has been miserly in its response to the misery of the Syrian people.
Valuable though it is, the Amnesty report presents an incomplete picture of the contribution made by the UAE, and perhaps by others, to tackling the Syrian crisis.
The criteria used in the report paint the UAE as uncaring, and that is, frankly, unfair. It’s hard to know whether that’s a matter of deliberate bias or just shoddy research, but it does the organisation no credit.
Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Seoul from Dh3,775 return, including taxes
The package
Ski Safari offers a seven-night ski package to Korea, including five nights at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong and two nights at Seoul CenterMark hotel, from £720 (Dh3,488) per person, including transfers, based on two travelling in January
The info
Visit www.gokorea.co.uk
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Company%20profile
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MATCH INFO
Jersey 147 (20 overs)
UAE 112 (19.2 overs)
Jersey win by 35 runs
FIGHT%20CARD
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No_One Ever Really Dies
N*E*R*D
(I Am Other/Columbia)
Getting%20there%20and%20where%20to%20stay
%3Cp%3EEtihad%20Airways%20operates%20seasonal%20flights%20from%20Abu%20Dhabi%20to%20Nice%20C%C3%B4te%20d'Azur%20Airport.%20Services%20depart%20the%20UAE%20on%20Wednesdays%20and%20Sundays%20with%20outbound%20flights%20stopping%20briefly%20in%20Rome%2C%20return%20flights%20are%20non-stop.%20Fares%20start%20from%20Dh3%2C315%2C%20flights%20operate%20until%20September%2018%2C%202022.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20Radisson%20Blu%20Hotel%20Nice%20offers%20a%20western%20location%20right%20on%20Promenade%20des%20Anglais%20with%20rooms%20overlooking%20the%20Bay%20of%20Angels.%20Stays%20are%20priced%20from%20%E2%82%AC101%20(%24114)%2C%20including%20taxes.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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