Citizen status rests on loyalty

New citizens of the country should show loyalty and embrace traditional values or risk having their citizenship revoked, Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Minister of Interior, was quoted as saying. He made the remarks at a time when the Government is seeking to resolve the status of an estimated 100,000 stateless people in the country and is asking them to come forward and register with the authorities.

The Ministry of Interior announced yesterday that once the period of registration was complete it would begin an aggressive search for those without documents. They will send teams of trained men and women to carry out inspectional raids at "every nook and corner of the country", according to the state news agency WAM. There will be no laxity for those found to be violating the laws of immigration and residency, it said.

Sheikh Saif told the Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm: "Loyalty is a condition of citizenship and new citizens are expected to embrace the values that have ensured social stability and security for all. The Constitution allows for revoking citizenship from anyone who does not deserve it." The Government has been receiving citizenship applications since Sept 7 from stateless people living in the country.

Sheikh Saif said his ministry's efforts to resolve the issue of stateless people was intended to "protect society from the problems associated with illegal residency". He said many stateless people "have demonstrated that they are well-intentioned and deserving of becoming citizens". He told the newspaper that Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, the President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, had ordered that stateless people who could prove their presence in the country before the creation of the UAE in 1971 were entitled to become citizens, providing they were completely transparent about their previous citizenships.

They must also have shown their worthiness to become citizens by not having committed any crime or acted in a way that could be considered a threat to social stability and security. "The order of the President to solve the issue of stateless people comes from a wish to maintain stability and security in the country by eliminating illegal immigration and by resolving the issue of stateless people once and for all," Sheikh Saif said.

At present stateless people are not allowed to travel outside the country or register their children in college. There are restrictions on the property they are allowed to own and the jobs they can take. Mohammed Abduallah Khalaf, a 27-year-old stateless person, said he would go to Mecca to perform Umra [minor pilgrimage] and pray for the soul of the late Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the nation, if he was accepted as a citizen.

Asked about Sheikh Saif's comments on the revocation of citizenship, he said: "Those who drink from a well would never throw dirt in it." Mr Khalaf has joined the armed forces and hopes that is sufficient proof of his commitment to the country. "I carry the country's emblem on my head and my love for it in my heart," he says. A committee overseeing the process will meet after the completion of registrations in mid-November to decide on the next steps in the plan.

ealghalib@thenational.ae rghazal@thenational.ae

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

How Voiss turns words to speech

The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen

The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser

This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen

A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB

The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free

Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards

Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser

Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages

At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness

More than 90 per cent live in developing countries

The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device

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.”

Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

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