ABU DHABI // About two-thirds of the people sent to the emirate's drug rehabilitation programmes return to substance abuse, according to a police study.
The research, called Back to Square One and published in the Ministry of Interior's January issue of 999 Magazine, said young parents, polygamy and weak religious adherence were among the key reasons behind the relapse rate.
In the US, the National Institutes of Health reports drug rehabilitation success rates ranging from 40 to 60 per cent.
Dr Hamad bin Abdullah al Ghafiri, the general director of the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) in Abu Dhabi, told the magazine that the causes for starting drug use were often the same as those that led to recidivism.
Many of those treated had a family history of divorce, parental illiteracy, family disintegration and bad friends.
He added that many who finished rehab were unable to re-integrate into families and society.
A top police official said the centres were at capacity, although he declined to give the exact number of patients because it was a "confidential" issue.
The centres already had patients on waiting lists, a problem only somewhat alleviated by sending them to affiliated clinics, he said.
Dr al Ghafri said in an interview that the treatment centre had 28 beds, with about that many people on the waiting list.
All patients' identities were carefully protected, he said. All were Emiratis, although people of any nationality were eligible.
Dr al Ghafiri called addiction a serious and complicated disease, and said that 50 per cent of users also suffered from psychological diseases.
Treatment involves several phases, including the removal of toxins from the body and psychological and physical rehabilitation treatment by a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and nurses.
Officials said former patients were required to undertake regular check-ups for two years.
Lt Col Hassan al Shamsi, the head of the anti-narcotics department at the Ministry of Interior, told 999 that the federal anti-narcotics law did not allow charges against those who took drugs or illegal psychotropic substances if they turned themselves in to seek treatment, unless they failed to report all the illicit substances in their possession.
Ahmad Abdulzaher, a legal consultant at the Ministry of Interior, said a person caught with drugs could be sentenced to up to four years in jail and fined up to Dh10,000 (US$2,700).
He said anyone, whether expatriate or Emirati, could turn himself in, but the authorities had the legal right to order deportation for non-nationals.
The judge can decide to send them to rehabilitation, but the Ministry of Interior has the authority to deport them.
"If they have the choice between rehabilitating them or deporting them, they would probably choose deportation," Mr Abdulzaher said.
Sayed Abo Zahra, a lawyer, confirmed that expatriates who turned themselves in might be deported.
"We cannot guarantee this, because there are no clear-cut regulations when it comes to deportation. The Ministry of Interior has full authority [to deport anyone]," he said.
He advised drug addicts to take a lawyer when going to police to make sure they were not arrested.
"It's even better if someone writes a letter to Public Prosecution requesting to take advantage of the federal law. This is the best way to do it," Mr Zahra said.
According to Lt Col al Shamsi, the ministry plans to combat narcotics by stepping up inspections and arrests, diversifying its sources of drug dealing and trafficking information, providing more training and enhancing GCC, Arab and international co-operation.
He told the magazine that the number of people arrested for drugs was "going towards decreasing" in the past few months.
The National Rehabilitation Centre has an agreement with the Sheikh Khalifa Fund for Support and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises to provide opportunities for the centre's patients to reintegrate into society.
Another agreement, with the Takatof volunteering programme, is designed to engage patients in volunteer activities to hone their communication and leadership skills.
The national centre was established in 2002 and has treated 300 Emirati drug addicts.
Besides free rehabilitation services provided to patients, the centre provides financial help to their families.
The centre plans to open a unit to treat women, because officials "noticed the existence of this issue among women, especially young women", according to the study.
The centre is working with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to conduct a nationwide study of drug abuse. It will be used to draw up a strategy and train Emirati drug specialists.
@Email:hhassan@thenational.ae
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How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries
• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.
• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.
• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.
• For more information visit the library network's website.
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Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
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Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
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Spider-Man: No Way Home
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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
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
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