From Europe and the Middle East to South America and the Asian Pacific, the lives of an increasing number of migrants and asylum seekers are being put on hold. Governments in various countries are struggling to resolve the contradiction between the universal desire to travel to find prosperity and the difficulties societies encounter in welcoming newcomers.
Even the world’s most powerful country, one that built itself on the idea that all are created equal and have the right to pursue happiness, can find itself immobilised by this conundrum. In the south of the US, along the border with Mexico, local and federal authorities are failing to provide for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people.
After illegal border crossings dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic, numbers are surging once again. In the opening months of 2021, almost 180,000 people have moved towards the area from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. A great deal of them have already attempted the dangerous journey into the US. Many are asylum seekers, and some are even unaccompanied children, who live all too frequently without specialist housing and educational facilities in an area that is home to some of the country's most violent drug cartels.
Many children attempt the crossing, with some even travelling alone. Reuters
In 2021, almost 180,000 people have moved towards the border
The National recently reported on the work of Felicia Rangel-Samponaro, a Texan woman who is distributing vital provisions and organising education for many lone and stranded young people. Despite the dangers of violence in the area, Ms Rangel-Samponaro continues to cross from the US to provide, as much as she can, services that many believe should be the concern of the American state.
Perhaps most remarkably of all, Ms Rangel-Samponaro, a former teacher, founded an unofficial "pavement school" in the Mexican border city of Matamoros, enlisting the help of educated migrants that had also been turned back from the crossing. She pays teachers a living wage, and students have a chance to continue their educations.
Ms Rangel-Samponaro has been undertaking her mission on the Mexican side of the border since November 2018. She felt compelled to do so after hearing the anti-asylum seeker rhetoric of former US president Donald Trump. And yet, with a new administration well into its first months in office, her work, unfortunately, remains as important as ever.
President Joe Biden made his opposition to Mr Trump's immigration policies a central part of his election campaign, reaping the political capital of the many Americans who opposed the former president's approach. Months into his new administration, Mr Biden has not done enough to fulfill his pledges, inaction on a major campaign promise.
Most importantly, it is a betrayal of the many vulnerably people America should be helping. As Ms Rangel-Samponaro put it, "These asylum seekers belong to us... The US asylum seekers are our responsibility.”
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
Mobile phone packages comparison
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
