Insight and opinion from The National’s editorial leadership
September 20, 2021
Last week, the journey for people travelling from Dubai to Abu Dhabi was very different.
Since July 2020, a physical border has stood between the two emirates as part of efforts to control Covid-19. For the first time in years, a checkpoint separated its two most populous jurisdictions. It perhaps also became symbolic of the realities the UAE has had to endure to maintain safety over the past year and a half.
Today, the checkpoint has gone, after Abu Dhabi authorities announced on Saturday that they would no longer require people to get tested for coronavirus before they enter the capital from other emirates. After a temporary but necessary measure, movement across the seven emirates is once more free-flowing and without restrictions.
A police checkpoint on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi border in 2020. Courtesy: Abu Dhabi Police
Congestion at the border into Abu Dhabi from Dubai on Sheikh Zayed Road as police check motorists for permits. A ban on travel in and out of Abu Dhabi began on June 2. Pawan Singh / The National
Officers check motorists for travel permits as they enter Abu Dhabi from Dubai. Courtesy: AD Police
A picture taken with a drone shows cars queueing before a security checkpoint on the E11 highway, between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. EPA
A picture taken with a drone shows cars queuing before a security checkpoint on the E11 highway, between Dubai and Abu Dhabi on June 6. EPA
A picture taken with a drone shows cars queueing before a security checkpoint on the E11 highway, between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. EPA
Traffic builds up on Sheikh Zayed Road as police check motorists for movement permits to enter Abu Dhabi. Pawan Singh / The National
Tailbacks on Sheikh Zayed Road as motorists wait to enter Abu Dhabi while police check for movement permits. Pawan Singh / The National
Police check motorists for permits to travel in Abu Dhabi from Dubai as a temporary movement ban comes into force. Pawan Singh / The National
Traffic builds up on Sheikh Zayed Road as police check motorists for movement permits to enter Abu Dhabi. Pawan Singh / The National
Tailbacks on Sheikh Zayed Road as motorists wait to enter Abu Dhabi while police check for movement permits. Pawan Singh / The National
Traffic builds up on Sheikh Zayed Road as police check motorists for movement permits to enter Abu Dhabi. Pawan Singh / The National
This happens as Abu Dhabi bids farewell to another previously necessary measure. People coming from abroad to visit the emirate will no longer have to wear a medical-grade tracking wristband, which had been mandatory for the vast majority of arrivals. Now, the cosmopolitanism that forms part of the UAE's identity is also one step closer to returning to normal.
This all comes after a record low in case numbers. As of last week, just 0.2 per cent of people tested in Abu Dhabi were found to have the virus.
Caution dictates that global reopening will be a slow, measured process, even in countries with falling cases and strong healthcare systems. More than 18.5 million people are currently infected with Covid-19. Worldwide, only 43 per cent of people have received at least one vaccine dose. In the developing world, it is less than two per cent. For now, plotting the route to a new normal is still a premature goal for most.
The UAE is fortunate to be at the opposite end of this spectrum. But it is also deserving. The country had one of the most far-reaching set of coronavirus measures in the world. Schools moved to distance learning. Religious ceremonies were restricted. Many residents abroad at the time had to wait weeks, sometimes longer to return home.
Today, more than 80 per cent of people in the UAE are fully vaccinated. At present, Abu Dhabi is the leading jurisdiction in the world in terms of number of tests per person, and the emirate still requires regular testing in order to enter public spaces, including workplaces and schools. Across the country, masks remain mandatory. The emergence of a next phase in dealing with the pandemic is necessary and welcome, but the responsibility to be vigilant remains for all of us.
Authorities and the public will continue to monitor the situation. But the resilience and capacity the country has been building over the past year and a half is paying off as a new shape is given to what will become normality.
As restrictions lift, more and more of us will realise quite how strange the past few months have been. Bidding farewell to some of these measures will be a great reason to celebrate. After this week's news, doing so with friends from across the country, even across the world, will be a lot easier.
Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
UAE: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Zimbabwe: Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
Race card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 (PA) US$100,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
6.30pm: Shahm, 7.05pm: Well Of Wisdom, 7.40pm: Lucius Tiberius, 8.15pm: Captain Von Trapp, 8.50pm: Secret Advisor, 9.25pm: George Villiers, 10pm: American Graffiti, 10.35pm: On The Warpath
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
