Mr Anwar is over the moon after being sheltered and employed by a royal family
Mr Anwar is over the moon after being sheltered and employed by a royal family
Mr Anwar is over the moon after being sheltered and employed by a royal family
Mr Anwar is over the moon after being sheltered and employed by a royal family

UAE

Homeless man in Sharjah offered job by UAE royal family

Ezzat Anwar, who was scammed by fake recruitment company, was given new life by Umm Al Quwain's deputy ruler

Sarwat Nasir
Sarwat Nasir
UAE

March 03, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

A homeless man was hired by one of the UAE's royal families after a social media post about his plight went viral.

Ezzat Anwar slept in mosques and parks for two and a half months after he was scammed by an recruitment firm.

The 29-year-old, who worked in hospitality, arrived from Egypt in January to find the company he was hired to work for did not exist.

Dedra Stevenson, an American Emirati resident, shared Mr Anwar’s story on Facebook, after spotting him sitting on the pavement by a coffee shop in Sharjah almost every day.

I had nearly lost hope but God sent me wonderful people. I am very grateful for the opportunity given to me

Within two days, he was offered a job by Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Mualla, Deputy Ruler of Umm Al Quwain.

"He was by the coffee shop for several days and I kept seeing people walking past him, ignoring him," Ms Stevenson told The National.

“He was obviously very downtrodden. One day I just walked up to him and asked if he was okay and there were tears in his eyes.

“I put the message forward on my social media channels and thankfully, my friend Heba Korayem put him in touch with the royal family. The support has been incredible.”

Speaking to The National, Meera Butti, wife of Sheikh Abdullah, said she wanted to help Mr Anwar after reading the post.

“We made sure his story was real and then we brought him to Umm Al Quwain,” she said.

“We promised him shelter and a month’s salary at first.

"Shortly after, we realised we needed someone to look after my husband’s majlis, such as housekeeping and waiting.

"He told us he has previous experience in this and wants the job. So, if he’s happy with it, we’ll go ahead with all of the legal formalities.”

When this photo of Ezzat on the streets was circulated online, more than a dozen people offered to help, including the royal family. Courtesy: Dedra Stevenson
When this photo of Ezzat on the streets was circulated online, more than a dozen people offered to help, including the royal family. Courtesy: Dedra Stevenson

Mr Anwar said he was thrilled about his new position.

“I had nearly lost hope but God sent me wonderful people,” he said.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity given to me. I received 15 calls after the social media posts and now I am in such a wonderful home.”

The Ministry of Interior has warned people against fake job offers. Fraudulent companies post employment offers online that promise high salaries and ask candidates to pay for a “processing fees”.

The authority said companies only brought new employees into the country under an employment visa and did not ask people to arrive on a visit visa.

Ms Stevenson shared Mr Anwar's story on her social media pages. Courtesy: Dedra Stevenson
Ms Stevenson shared Mr Anwar's story on her social media pages. Courtesy: Dedra Stevenson
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The bio

Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.

Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.

Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.

Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.

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Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai

On Women's Day
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

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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