DUBAI // Long-term regional support will be key to the success of a new anti-piracy centre in the Seychelles that aims to track down the kingpins behind the hijackings.
The UAE has already shown its support for the Regional Anti-Piracy Prosecution and Intelligence Coordination Centre that opened in the Seychelles last week.
"We see the UAE as critical in the development of the centre because it has been influential and forthcoming on sharing information that it believes is vital," said Dick Esparon, the Seychelles ambassador. "Piracy is a scourge and we must track not only the people who go out to sea to commit piracy but also the people behind the scenes.
"We must use technology to trace everything that feeds off the proceeds of piracy."
The work of the centre will support the continuing naval pursuit of pirates in the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
"Piracy is a transnational crime and we have to act in a unified manner," Mr Esparon said. "Therefore, it's important for the UAE and for the Middle East because each country on its own cannot tackle the problem. A coordinated approach is required to tackle the crime, chase and hunt these financiers and bring them to justice.
The UK-funded anti-piracy centre, which opened on February 25, is one of several measures initiated to protect the Seychelles, a small island nation vulnerable to attacks because it is nearSomalia.
Tourism and fishing have both been hit by piracy but the country is fighting back with aid from the international community and is no longer an easy target.
Over the past few years, the UAE has provided the Seychelles with a coast guard headquarters, radar stations, patrol boats and surveillance aircraft. There are now about 100 Somali pirates facing jail terms in the Seychelles and helping provide information about piracy gangs.
Since 2010, Somali pirates facing local resistance have increased their range of operations to attacking ships 2,000 kilometres from their coastline.
Shipping vessels and oil tankers leaving the Arabian Gulf and the strategic Strait of Hormuz are now prime targets for pirates since about a fifth of the world's oil exports pass through the strait and the Indian Ocean.
"Piracy has become a major concern for the Arabian Gulf post-2010. Now the UAE has a more critical role to play," said Tim Stear, the director of maritime security at Control Risks, a crisis management company.
"While before it was outside its area as it only affected the Somali coastline and the Gulf of Aden, now any port of the Arabian Gulf is potentially a target."
Experts say collating intelligence is part of the UAE's commitment to counter regional threats.
"One of the fundamental aims is to gather information on pirate gangs and then look at targeting the beneficiaries from the crime," Mr Stear said. "If the piracy network, financing and the proceeds of the crime are not targeted then piracy will continue."
A combination of naval patrols and armed guards on merchant vessels has helped curtail piracy attacks from 176 in 2011 to 35 until October last year, according to International Maritime Bureau statistics.
The new Seychelles centre aims to seize this advantage and focus on tracking the people who organise and fund piracy, through cooperation between law enforcement agencies.
"The UAE's effort is aimed to bring Somalia back to the family of nations," said Theodore Karasik, research and development director at Inegma security consultancy.
"Collecting intelligence, disseminating findings to mitigate and disrupt the financial flows of piracy - this is the major objective of fighting the scourge. The UAE policy regarding piracy off the cost of Somalia is multifaceted with intelligence sharing and lessons learnt on how to best establish public and private interaction."
[ rtalwar@thenational.ae ]
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Scoreline
Liverpool 4
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Manchester City 3
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Diriyah project at a glance
- Diriyah’s 1.9km King Salman Boulevard, a Parisian Champs-Elysees-inspired avenue, is scheduled for completion in 2028
- The Royal Diriyah Opera House is expected to be completed in four years
- Diriyah’s first of 42 hotels, the Bab Samhan hotel, will open in the first quarter of 2024
- On completion in 2030, the Diriyah project is forecast to accommodate more than 100,000 people
- The $63.2 billion Diriyah project will contribute $7.2 billion to the kingdom’s GDP
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- About 2,000 people work for the Diriyah Company, with more than 86 per cent being Saudi citizens
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Funds raised so far: $10m
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Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
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Cases of coronavirus in the GCC as of March 15
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UAE – 86 infected, 0 dead, 23 recovered
Bahrain – 210 infected, 0 dead, 44 recovered
Kuwait – 104 infected, 0 dead, 5 recovered
Qatar – 337 infected, 0 dead, 4 recovered
Oman – 19 infected, 0 dead, 9 recovered
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE squad
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