Hassan Ibrahim Hassan and his daughter Roya are bidoons, people without a nationality, living in the UAE.
Hassan Ibrahim Hassan and his daughter Roya are bidoons, people without a nationality, living in the UAE.

'I belong here, this is my home'



ABU DHABI // Roya Hassan's fate will be sealed on Nov 4. The first woman to graduate in law from Al Ain's United Arab Emirates University in 1982, she says she has never been able to practise because she is a "bidoon", one of an estimated 10,000 stateless people living in the UAE without passports or other legal documentation. A week on Tuesday she will be interviewed by officials from the Government's Citizenship Committee, who will decide whether she can become an Emirati citizen.

Her father moved to Ras al Khaimah from Tabriz, in northwestern Iran, in 1953. Fresh out of military service with the equivalent of Dh650 in savings, considered "good money for that time", Hassan Ibrahim Hassan came in search of adventure. "It was not difficult for them in Tabriz," says Mrs Hassan. "They just wanted a challenge. A few of the boys wanted to leave the place and they had friends here who encouraged them to come."

In Ras al Khaimah, "there were no shops, no houses, no food", she says, "and at first, there was no work. They had a little jar that they used to collect any money they could gather from odd jobs that would come to them. But the people here were so kind. They took care of them. The hospitality was so good. They were always opening their homes and sharing their food." Mr Hassan met a carpenter in RAK and entered into an apprenticeship. After six years he moved to Khor Fakkan, in Sharjah, where he opened his own carpentry shop and went on to raise four children with his wife, a fellow Iranian he had met in RAK.

"He was the most famous carpenter in the whole area," says Mrs Hassan. "Everyone knew him, everyone was constantly inviting him over for a coffee, a tea, a meal." Mr Hassan, who at 78 works as a watchman at a centre for handicapped children in Kalba, was given a Sharjah passport in 1971, but when the UAE was formed at the end of that year, he was instead reissued with a temporary UAE passport, which he had to renew every six months.

The rules changed in 1982 - the year his daughter graduated. Since then, Mr Hassan has not been able to get a passport for himself, his wife or his children, as they are not in possession of the required UAE national birth registration certificate. "We were Emirati citizens until 1982," says his daughter. "We were able to travel. "Do I belong here? I was born here. I studied here, I grew up here, I made all my friends here, I went to their homes and they came to mine, they were like my sisters. I used to jump from house to house and wall to wall to get to their homes and I was known as the monkey of the neighbourhood. "Of course I belong here, this is my home."

After graduating from law ahead of the other female students who started with her, Mrs Hassan fought hard for the right to practise her chosen subject. "I tried to work in law?many of my friends in Fujairah tried to help me and pull some strings, but it didn't work. Instead, I worked in the legal departments of a lot of different companies, but it wasn't the same. I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to be in court."

It was not to be. "Imagine studying and working so hard for something, even struggling to be allowed to go to law school, and dreaming of it, then you simply can't do the job you have studied for," she says. Mrs Hassan's younger sister managed to get papers from the Iranian embassy, which in 1989 enabled her to leave for Canada, where she works as a journalist. "She did not have the patience to wait," says Mrs Hassan. "Although we are very comfortable here, we are still facing so many problems due to a lack of official papers and a passport. We can't travel, we can't easily change our jobs, we have difficulties registering a car, or buying property, or opening a bank account, even. Nothing comes easy for us."

Mrs Hassan, 46, frustrated with working in legal departments, had a stint in newspapers and radio, before joining Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies, a part of the Mubadala Development Company, where she has been working for the past 20 years. "The most important thing in my life right now is to get this passport," she says. It would enable her to travel if she needed medical treatment overseas, or to visit her two sons - one of whom is Bayan, the guitarist in the Abu Dhabi-based rock group Juliana Down - if they chose to live abroad.

Most importantly, she could finally fulfil her lifelong ambition. "I am definitely planning to continue my studies," she says. "I want to get my master's and PhD degrees, that's what I'm hoping for. "Then depending on what opportunities come up, I will either practise law or teach law in the university. This is the dream I am living for." kattwood@thenational.ae hkalaf@thenational.ae

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Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE

There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.

It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.

What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.

When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.

It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.

This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.

It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.

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Emergency phone numbers in the UAE

Estijaba – 8001717 –  number to call to request coronavirus testing

Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111

Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre

Emirates airline – 600555555

Etihad Airways – 600555666

Ambulance – 998

Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries

The specs

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Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets. 

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Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

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Favourite car: Ferrari

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Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

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Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

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Starring: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, John Oliver

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

SPEC SHEET

Display: 10.4-inch IPS LCD, 400 nits, toughened glass

CPU: Unisoc T610; Mali G52 GPU

Memory: 4GB

Storage: 64GB, up to 512GB microSD

Camera: 8MP rear, 5MP front

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, 3.5mm audio

Battery: 8200mAh, up to 10 hours video

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Sector: Entertainment 
 
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Director: Raed Zeno

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Meydan card

6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m

RESULTS
%3Cp%3E%0D5pm%3A%20Al%20Bateen%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(Turf)%202%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Ma%E2%80%99Aly%20Al%20Shahania%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%20(jockey)%2C%20Mohamed%20Daggash%20(trainer)%0D%3Cbr%3E5.30pm%3A%20Al%20Khaleej%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20AF%20Rami%2C%20Tadhg%20O%E2%80%99Shea%2C%20Ernst%20Oertel%0D%3Cbr%3E6pm%3A%20Wathba%20Stallions%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh70%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Bant%20Al%20Emarat%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%2C%20Qaiss%20Aboud%0D%3Cbr%3E6.30pm%3A%20Al%20Nahyan%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20AF%20Rasam%2C%20Marcelino%20Rodrigues%2C%20Ernst%20Oertel%0D%3Cbr%3E7pm%3A%20Al%20Karamah%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Zafaranah%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%2C%20Musabah%20Al%20Muhairi%0D%3Cbr%3E7.30pm%3A%20Al%20Salam%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Nibras%20Passion%2C%20Tadhg%20O%E2%80%99Shea%2C%20Ismail%20Mohammed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

T10 Cricket League
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
December 14- 17
6pm, Opening ceremony, followed by:
Bengal Tigers v Kerala Kings 
Maratha Arabians v Pakhtoons
Tickets available online at q-tickets.com/t10


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