Germany’s president said on Monday that it was too early to repatriate Syrian refugees on a large scale and that the international community would have to continue to support the Middle Eastern nations that have hosted millions of them.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking from Lebanon where he met with President Michel Aoun, said “conditions aren’t right” in large parts of Syria to ensure the safe return of refugees.
Close to a million Syrian refugees are living in Lebanon, according to the United Nations, amounting to more than a fifth of the population. Lebanon’s government says with Damascus in control of large sections of Syria, it is time to repatriate refugees.
Syria's civil war still rages in parts of the country, including a large pocket outside the capital. Other parts of the country are stable, but suffered catastrophic damage from nearly seven years of fighting, and the country is struggling to attract funds for reconstruction.
“After many failed attempts at the international level ... we have not achieved a cease-fire” for Syria, Mr Steinmeier said.
Earlier on Monday, he met the German contingent of nearly 300 troops at an air base in northeastern Jordan. Germany carries out reconnaissance and refuelling missions over Syria and Iraq, where ISIL once held large areas.
Mr Steinmeier told soldiers that the battle against ISIL has been successful, but that their service is still needed to combat remnants of the extremist group and to keep them from resurrecting it.
He said soldiers told him they felt welcome and were working in good conditions.
“So the right choice was definitely made,” he said, referring to a decision last year to move the troops from Turkey to Jordan. Germany relocated the troops after Turkey restricted access to the soldiers, including visits by parliamentarians.
The German president also visited the nearby Azraq camp, home to about 36,000 Syrian refugees.
He singled out Germany’s role supporting the refugees, saying a recent improvement in providing refugees with the essentials was partly due to significant aid from his country. Germany is the second largest donor country to Jordan, in terms of humanitarian and development aid, after the United States.
He also praised Jordan for hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Asked about a series of restrictive Jordanian refugee policies, he said critics should keep in mind that the kingdom shoulders a disproportionately large burden.
“Yes, much can be improved,” he said. “Much needs to be done through international aid. But I believe it’s not justified to come with big complaints against Jordan.”
Jordan sealed its border with Syria in 2016 after a cross-border car bomb attack. The closure left tens of thousands of displaced Syrians stranded in harsh conditions in a remote area of the desert, with only intermittent access to aid supplies. Human rights groups have said that Jordan has forcibly deported hundreds of refugees.
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
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
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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.”
The%20specs
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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