Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has been awarded the UN refugee agency's Nansen Award for her government's decision to grant asylum to more than one million refugees from Syria and the Middle East.
The UNHCR selection committee hailed Ms Merkel's “leadership, courage and compassion” in Germany's decision to welcome 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016.
At the time, the woman who led the German government for 16 years said the situation “put our European values to the test as seldom before”.
“It was no more and no less than a humanitarian imperative,” she added.
The UN refugee agency highlighted how she had called on her fellow Germans to reject divisive nationalism, urging them instead to be “compassionate and open-minded”.
“By helping more than a million refugees to survive and rebuild, Angela Merkel displayed great moral and political courage,” UN refugee commissioner Filippo Grandi said in a statement, hailing her determination to stand up for human rights, humanitarian principles and international law.
“It was true leadership, appealing to our common humanity, standing firm against those who preached fear and discrimination,” he said.
The selection committee highlighted that, in addition to protecting people forced to flee war, Ms Merkel was the driving force behind Germany's collective efforts to receive them and help them integrate into society.
The annual Nansen Award was created in 1954 in honour of the first UNHCR, Norwegian Arctic explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, to mark outstanding work on behalf of refugees.
It honours people, groups and organisations for going above and beyond the call of duty to protect refugees and other displaced and stateless people.
Ms Merkel will receive her award and the $150,000 in prize money at a ceremony in Geneva on October 10. Four regional winners will also be honoured at that ceremony, each receiving a $50,000 prize.
They include Nagham Hasan, an Iraqi gynaecologist who provides medical and psychosocial care to Yazidi girls and women who survived enslavement, rape and other violence at the hands of extremist groups in northern Iraq.
Also on the list is the Mbera Fire Brigade — a volunteer refugee firefighting group in Mauritania that has extinguished more than 100 bushfires and planted thousands of trees.
Meikswe Myanmar, a humanitarian group that helps internally displaced people and others in need in the conflict-torn country, was also awarded a prize, as was Vincenta Gonzalez, who established a cacao cooperative in Costa Rica to support refugees and host-community women, including survivors of domestic violence.
Pointing out that the number of forcibly displaced people around the world has passed 100 million for the first time this year, the UNHCR statement said it was “imperative that the public retain their sense of compassion towards those forced to flee their homes”.
This year marks a century since Nansen was awarded the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to repatriate prisoners of war and to protect millions of refugees displaced by conflict, revolution and the collapse of the Russian, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires.
It also marks 100 years since the creation of the Nansen passport, an identity document for refugees, making it possible for them to move across borders in search of work, UNHCR said.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
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New process leads to panic among jobseekers
As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.
Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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Norway
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Canada
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Madrid Open schedule
Men's semi-finals
Novak Djokovic (1) v Dominic Thiem (5) from 6pm
Stefanos Tsitsipas (8) v Rafael Nadal (2) from 11pm
Women's final
Simona Halep (3) v Kiki Bertens (7) from 8.30pm
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Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pathaan
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