EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has attracted criticism for his recent remarks. EPA
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has attracted criticism for his recent remarks. EPA
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has attracted criticism for his recent remarks. EPA
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has attracted criticism for his recent remarks. EPA


The EU must act against Josep Borrell for his 'jungle' remarks


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October 18, 2022

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs has appropriately elevated responsibilities. He or she “shapes the standing of the European Union on the global stage”, according to the EU’s website. The representative, Josep Borrell, is also the Vice President of the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, and is head of the union’s diplomatic service.

So it was surely someone else, possibly “someone from the far right”, as the prominent Filipino academic Aries Arugay tweeted, who said the following last week: “Europe is a garden ... It is the best combination … that humankind has been able to build. Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden. The gardeners have to go to the jungle. Otherwise, the rest of the world will invade us, by different ways and means.”

It was, however, Mr Borrell who was speaking in Bruges at the inauguration of the European Diplomatic Academy. Was such patently undiplomatic language a slip of the tongue? No. The speech was pre-released. Did any of the highly paid Eurocrats who advise Mr Borrell warn him against using wording so offensive that the UAE has summoned the acting head of the EU mission to explain the "inappropriate and discriminatory" remarks? It didn’t make any difference if so. Did his predecessor, Federica Mogherini, who was looking on, object? Did anyone in the audience heckle or shout “shame”? I have watched the speech and they did not.

So the EU’s High Representative to the globe has basically announced that in his view, Europe is civilised (perhaps he includes countries dominated by European settlers too), and the rest of the world is uncivilised. If anyone thinks that it is a stretch of interpretation, be clear that he was using the word “jungle” in a highly derogatory sense. “A nice small garden surrounded by high walls in order to prevent the jungle from coming in is not going to be a solution,” he went on. “Because the jungle has a strong growth capacity, and the wall will never be high enough in order to protect the garden.”

Sometimes the mask does slip

This is only a step away from the odious “great replacement” conspiracy theory – that hordes of immigrants, chiefly Muslim, are supposedly set to overwhelm the continent and its white inhabitants’ cultures. No wonder Europe is so keen to welcome those fleeing the Ukrainian “garden” but not those from the “jungles” of North Africa, the Middle East, or Asia.

Mr Borrell went further, concluding by telling his young “gardeners” that “your duty will not be to take care of the garden itself but of the jungle outside". Ah yes, it’s just like the “mission civilisatrice”, or civilising mission, that former French colonies from Algeria to Vietnam remember so fondly. A Russian foreign affairs spokeswoman responded to the speech with a clarity that reflects outrage throughout the “jungle”. “Europe built that ‘garden’ through the barbaric plundering of the ‘jungle’,” she said. “Borrell could not have phrased it any better: the world’s most prosperous system, created in Europe, nurtured by roots in colonies which they ruthlessly oppressed.”

Once a speechwriter for former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and media adviser to UN General Assembly president Maria Espinoza, Mark Seddon, tells me: “This is a remark that could have been made by an ignorant racist in the 1930s, and should be completely unacceptable in the 2020s.”

I agree. But it is very telling where this speech has been mentioned. Until The New York Times ran an article on Monday, all the reports on it were in non-western media (including in this newspaper). Google searches show that, at the time of writing, the great organs of the European media have totally ignored Mr Borrell’s abhorrent comparisons – although a report by the Reuters wire service, which most newsrooms subscribe to, on the UAE’s summoning of the local EU head, might change that.

“Imagine if a Chinese official were to say something like this. We would not stop hearing about it for the next decade,” says Shahriman Lockman, a director at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia (which is, as it happens, situated next to an area of dense secondary rainforest in the capital, Kuala Lumpur).

Refugees from Ukraine line up for information at a booth offering German language courses at a job fair in Berlin in June. AFP
Refugees from Ukraine line up for information at a booth offering German language courses at a job fair in Berlin in June. AFP

So why the lack of reaction in “the garden”? Do Europeans think Mr Borrell is so loose-lipped that his ill-advised comments are no longer worth writing about – in which case he should not be in such an important position? Or do they tacitly agree with him? After all, sometimes the mask does slip. I’m reminded of a Malaysian friend who was once staying at an English country house when two younger guests announced that they were going to visit the Malaysian part of Borneo. “Be very careful there,” said the host. “It’s full of savages and cannibals.” Upon realising that my friend was from the very country he had just maligned, he quickly added: “Oh, I don’t mean you, my dear!”

Mr Borrell’s insulting words underline why Europe, and the West more broadly, sometimes has trouble gaining greater traction for its narratives in the Global South. As one South-East Asian analyst said to me: “At least the Russians and the Chinese do a better job of keeping any prejudices they may have about ‘the jungle’ to themselves.”

The man himself claims not to know what all the fuss is about, and Mr Borrell’s boss, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, has offered no correction to him. Many from “the jungle”, including government officials, have, however, taken a different view on social media.

The Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 group, co-founded by former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, spoke for many in the statement it released on Monday: “In calling most of the rest of the world ‘a jungle’, Borrell has degraded billions of people in parts of the world that are underdeveloped as a direct result of Europe’s colonial legacy, and shown that, far from wanting to atone for this immense injustice, his top priority is perpetuating it. Borrell’s conduct, put simply, is unfit for the office he holds. We demand his immediate resignation.”

Unless Mr Borrell swiftly issues an abject apology, there can be no other option. Otherwise, the EU has just told the rest of the world exactly what it thinks about it. And it doesn't make for pleasant reading.

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The stats

Ship name: MSC Bellissima

Ship class: Meraviglia Class

Delivery date: February 27, 2019

Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT

Passenger capacity: 5,686

Crew members: 1,536

Number of cabins: 2,217

Length: 315.3 metres

Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

THE BIO

Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13 

Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier

Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife 

What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents. 

Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.

The Gandhi Murder
  • 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
  • 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
  • 7 - million dollars, the film's budget 
What is dialysis?

Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.

It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.

There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.

In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.

In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.

It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
Five personal finance podcasts from The National

 

To help you get started, tune into these Pocketful of Dirham episodes 

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Balance is essential to happiness, health and wealth 

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What is a portfolio stress test? 

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What are NFTs and why are auction houses interested? 

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How gamers are getting rich by earning cryptocurrencies 

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Should you buy or rent a home in the UAE?  

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

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Jetour T1 specs

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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

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

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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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Profile of RentSher

Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE

Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi

Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE

Sector: Online rental marketplace

Size: 40 employees

Investment: $2 million

THE SCORES

Ireland 125 all out

(20 overs; Stirling 72, Mustafa 4-18)

UAE 125 for 5

(17 overs, Mustafa 39, D’Silva 29, Usman 29)

UAE won by five wickets

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Timeline

2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
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Updated: October 19, 2022, 8:41 AM