RAMESWARAM, INDIA // It was a short but perilous boat ride. Motoring across the cyclonic waters between India and Sri Lanka, the wind beat against the small plastic dingy as its engine spat smoke. For six hours, the choppy sea threatened to upend the craft, while the danger of Sri Lanka's navy patrol boats was never far from Arumugam Rasasekeran's mind.
With Sri Lanka's government stepping up its assault on ethnic Tamil separatists in the country's north, Mr Rasasekeran, 30, a Tamil farmer, felt he had no choice but to flee his homeland. His brother was killed by Sri Lankan forces several years ago, mistaken for a Tamil Tiger rebel, he said.
"It is very dangerous for Tamils in Sri Lanka now. The Sri Lankan army is very dangerous for us," said Mr Rasasekeran as he registered at a police station in Rameswaram, the beachside town in India's south-eastern state of Tamil Nadu.
Since the Tamil Tigers launched their war in the early 1980s, Sri Lanka's 3.2 million ethnic Tamils have been under suspicion by successive Sinhalese governments. With good reason: the Tigers forcibly recruit from the Tamil population and are ruthless in their quest to carve out a separate homeland for Tamils in the north and east, sending suicide bombers into civilian as well as military populations.
Up until two years ago, the Tigers held wide swathes of territory in the north and east which they controlled like a tiny state, while carrying out raids on security forces. A 2003 ceasefire brought a measure of peace to the island, better known for its sandy beaches and palm trees, but began to unravel in 2005.
In 2006, the government launched a concerted effort to retake areas in the east, pushing out the rebels and holding elections. It officially pulled out of the ceasefire in January and has since pledged to crush the insurgency by the end of the year. This week, the government troops claimed to be just 30km from Kilinochchi, the rebels' de facto headquarters.
The war, however, has taken its toll on the country's population. Thousands of Tamils, many of them children, have been press-ganged into the Tigers' dwindling ranks, while the Sri Lankan security forces have been accused of abductions and torture of Tamil civilians.
Since 1983, about 70,000 people, both combatants and civilians on both sides of the ethnic divide, have been killed and more than 600,000 Tamils forced to flee their homes, many of them seeking refuge in Tamil Nadu in India, where there are strong historical, cultural and linguistic links. But securing passage via the sea can take days and many of those trying to escape end up staying in squalid bedsits, waiting for a space on a boat.
Mr Rasasekeran was lucky. For 40,000 Sri Lankan rupees (Dh1,330), he bartered his way on to a boat from the coastal island of Talaimannar, where fishermen make the risky journey under cover of darkness. His wife, however, was turned away.
It is not uncommon for boats to capsize and the passengers to drown in the shallow waters. In September, a boat carrying 13 refugees capsized off Rameswaram, killing eight. Another concern is the Sri Lankan navy which, wary of the Tigers' feared sea wing, has been known to open fire on unidentified vessels, including fishermen and boatloads of refugees. About 400 fishermen from the area have been killed since 1983, said Suresh Mascarenas, 27, a fisherman.
But for some Tamils, there is no alternative. Week by week, scores of desperate and frightened Sri Lankans wash up on the long, thorium-stained shores of Tamil Nadu. According to latest official estimates, there were 75,000 Sri Lankan refugees in 117 camps there. Estimates from those on the ground place the figure closer to 90,000, with another 25,000 outside the camps.
Life for the refugees is basic. The majority live in overcrowded camps, said Thushanth Balasubramaniam, who works for the Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation. Those who find work, usually as farm labourers or in construction, are lucky to earn a basic daily wage.
Recent arrivals are monitored closely for the first couple of weeks and intelligence agents regularly visit camps to scout out any possible connections to the Tamil Tigers, officially known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE. If they are found to be soldiers, they are transported to a Chennai-based prison camp.
"We screen them very thoroughly here," said a policeman in Rameswaram, who asked to remain anonymous. "In the past, LTTE men have come here acting as refugees, but not anymore. LTTE needs all the cadres they have right now, so they would not let them flee to India."
Although life is tough in India, the situation back in Sri Lanka is worse. UN agencies estimate there are still about 250,000 Tamils living in territory controlled by the Tigers in the north, where for the past two years the government has enforced a blockade, leaving them short of food, medicine and subjected to daily air strikes and tit-for-tat artillery battles.
"Things are too dangerous in Sri Lanka. [The Sri Lankan military] sees all Tamils as rebels and the supporters of LTTE," Mr Balasubramaniam said. Even though they have fled their country, there is still widespread support for Tamil Eelam, the independent state within Sri Lanka that the rebels are fighting for. "Most of the Sri Lankan Tamils are still supporting LTTE. All are demanding Tamil Eelam," he said.
In certain areas of Tamil Nadu, there is also support for the Tamils' cause. During the 1980s, many Tiger cadres trained and lived in the state before returning home to fight the government, including Velupillai Prabakharan, the group's elusive leader. But the relationship between India and Sri Lanka's Tamils soured after New Delhi sent in a peacekeeping force in the 1980s which ended in a hasty pull-out a few years later and the subsequent assassination of Rajiv Ghandi, the prime minister, by a female suicide bomber in a town outside Chennai in 1991.
With daily ground battles in Sri Lanka's north, calls in Tamil Nadu for a solution to the decades-long conflict have grown louder. Last month, M Karunanidhi, Tamil Nadu's chief minister, threatened to resign with several other ministers if the Indian government did not pressure Sri Lanka into calling a ceasefire.
With the Sri Lankan government closing in on Tiger headquarters, and with the rebels refusing to accept defeat, it is unclear what will happen to the insurgents and their cause.
New Delhi fears that as more Sri Lankans seek refuge in India, the fight for a separate state may simply shift location. But for most of the refugees, the answer is that they simply want to return home.
"It's very tough for refugees to come over here," said Vabivelu Kandaiah, a refugee from Jaffna who has been baking bread outside Rameswaram's camp for the past decade. "It's not an easy choice. But I hope I will go home again.
"I don't want a separate homeland, but we need independence and we need peace. Whatever it may be, Sri Lanka is my country."
* The National
RESULTS
Time; race; prize; distance
4pm: Maiden; (D) Dh150,000; 1,200m
Winner: General Line, Xavier Ziani (jockey), Omar Daraj (trainer)
4.35pm: Maiden (T); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Travis County, Adrie de Vries, Ismail Mohammed
5.10pm: Handicap (D); Dh175,000; 1,200m
Winner: Scrutineer, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
5.45pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Yulong Warrior, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
6.20pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Ejaaby, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson
6.55pm: Handicap (D); Dh160,000; 1,600m
Winner: Storyboard, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap (D); Dh150,000; 2,200m
Winner: Grand Dauphin, Gerald Mosse, Ahmed Al Shemaili
8.05pm: Handicap (T); Dh190,000; 1,800m
Winner: Good Trip, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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%3Cp%3EThe%20new%20UAE%20league%20has%20been%20boosted%20this%20season%20by%20the%20arrival%20of%20five%20Pakistanis%2C%20who%20were%20not%20released%20to%20play%20last%20year.%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%0D%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EShaheen%20Afridi%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3ESet%20for%20at%20least%20four%20matches%2C%20having%20arrived%20from%20New%20Zealand%20where%20he%20captained%20Pakistan%20in%20a%20series%20loss.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EShadab%20Khan%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%0DThe%20leg-spin%20bowling%20allrounder%20missed%20the%20tour%20of%20New%20Zealand%20after%20injuring%20an%20ankle%20when%20stepping%20on%20a%20ball.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAzam%20Khan%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EPowerhouse%20wicketkeeper%20played%20three%20games%20for%20Pakistan%20on%20tour%20in%20New%20Zealand.%20He%20was%20the%20first%20Pakistani%20recruited%20to%20the%20ILT20.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMohammed%20Amir%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EHas%20made%20himself%20unavailable%20for%20national%20duty%2C%20meaning%20he%20will%20be%20available%20for%20the%20entire%20ILT20%20campaign.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EImad%20Wasim%20(Abu%20Dhabi%20Knight%20Riders)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20left-handed%20allrounder%2C%2035%2C%20retired%20from%20international%20cricket%20in%20November%20and%20was%20subsequently%20recruited%20by%20the%20Knight%20Riders.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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.
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Monster Hunter: World
Capcom
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
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.”
World Cup League Two
Results
Oman beat Nepal by 18 runs
Oman beat United States by six wickets
Nepal beat United States by 35 runs
Oman beat Nepal by eight wickets
Fixtures
Tuesday, Oman v United States
Wednesday, Nepal v United States
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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
The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster
Price, base: Dh708,750
Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 374hp (total)
Torque: 570Nm (total)
Fuel economy, combined: 2.0L / 100km
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
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UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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Checks continue
A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.
Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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