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Austria has called for the establishment of “deportation centres” in countries near Afghanistan to house people fleeing the country.
The chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, said the plan was an option other than deporting Afghans to their homeland, a practice that earned his a rebuke by human rights organisations before Kabul’s collapse to the Taliban.
“If deportations are no longer possible because of the restrictions imposed on us by the European Convention on Human Rights, alternatives must be considered,” Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
“Deportation centres in the region around Afghanistan would be one possibility. That requires the strength and support of the European Commission. I will suggest it at the council of interior ministers,” Mr Nehammer said, an apparent reference to a meeting of EU interior ministers on Wednesday.
Austria was one of six EU member states that asked the European Commission last week not to halt the deportation of Afghans whose applications for asylum had been rejected.
Since then, the Taliban have made a lighting advance and three of the six countries – Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands – have reversed course.
He and Mr Schallenberg suggested the meeting could be expanded to include foreign ministers so as to co-ordinate policy on Afghanistan. But soon afterwards, the bloc’s foreign policy chief called a foreign ministers’ meeting on Afghanistan for Tuesday.
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Afghan women, holding placards, gather to demand the protection of women's rights in front of the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. -

A person holds the flag of Afghanistan during a protest against support for the Taliban, in Berlin, Germany. -

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid speaks at his first news conference in Kabul. -

Taliban fighters stand guard outside the Green Zone where most of the embassies are situated. -

Afghan security forces patrol on humvee vehicle along a road in Bazarak town of Panjshir province. -

Schoolgirls sit in a schoolyard in Herat. -

Afghans wait outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport to flee the country. -

A Taliban fighter raises their flag on a vehicle as they patrol in Kandahar. -

French citizens and their Afghan colleagues wait to board a French military transport plane at the airport in Kabul after the Taliban's stunning military takeover of the Afghanistan. -

French soldiers at the airport in Kabul as they arrive to help French citizens and their Afghan colleagues to flee after the Taliban takeover. -

A US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft filled with about 640 Afghans fleeing to Qatar from Kabul, Afghanistan. -

Crowds on the tarmac of Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan. Several people were reportedly killed at the airport on August 16 as Afghans tried to hang on to a moving US military plane leaving the airport. -

A satellite photo shows swarms of people on the tarmac at Kabul International Airport, also known as Hamid Karzai International Airport. Afghans rushed on to the tarmac of the capital's airport on Monday as thousands tried to flee the country after the Taliban seized power with stunning speed. -

A traffic jam outside Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan after Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar declared victory and an end to the decades-long war in the country. President Ashraf Ghani fled and conceded that the insurgents had won the 20-year war. -

Qari Muhammad Hanif, centre, director of the Taliban's cultural and Information department, talks to journalists in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. -

Humvee vehicles from the Afghan Security Forces in Panjshir province, Afghanistan. -

Thousands of Afghans rushed to Hamid Karzai International Airport in an attempt to flee the Afghan capital, Kabul. -

Afghans on the tarmac at Kabul airport in Kabul after a swift end to the 20-year war in the country. Thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's rule. -

A US soldier keeps close watch on Afghan passengers at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul. Thousands of people packed the airport trying to flee Taliban rule. -

Passengers sit inside a plane as they wait to leave the runway of Kabul after the stunningly swift end of Afghanistan’s 20-year war. -

People climb on top of a plane in Kabul. -

People try to enter Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. -

People cross the boundary wall of Hamid Karzai International Airport to flee the country after rumours that foreign countries were removing people even without visas. -

Taliban fighters stand guard along a roadside near Zanbaq Square in Kabul. -

A Taliban fighter sits on his motorcycle by a road in Shahr-e Naw, Kabul. -

Talibs patrol the streets of Kabul as the militants take control of Afghanistan. after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. -

Afghans gather on the asphalt at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul. -

Afghans gather by the runway in Kabul as US soldiers stand guard. -

Taliban fighters on a police vehicle outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. -

Baradar Akhund, a senior official of the Taliban, with a group of men, makes a video statement. -

Taliban fighters take control of the presidential palace in Kabul, after Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. -

Passengers from Kabul arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. -

Families on a motorway trying to flee Kabul. -

Afghan security forces on patrol in Kabul. -

People line up outside Azizi Bank to withdraw cash during a run on deposits. -

Taliban fighters use a captured Afghan security forces vehicle at a checkpoint in Herat. -

Ahmadullah Muttaqi, centre left, the Taliban's director for information and culture, addresses journalists. -

Police officers conduct their duties after the Taliban took control of Kandahar. -

People prepare to cross into Afghanistan, at Pakistan's Chaman border. Pakistani authorities reopened the border with Afghanistan on August 13 after it had been closed for several days. -

Afghans wait in long lines for hours to get visas at the Iranian embassy, in Kabul. -

Taliban fighters patrol after taking control of Jalalabad. -

Smoke rises near the US embassy in Kabul. Taliban fighters reached the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday. -

Anti-missile decoy flares are used by US Black Hawk military helicopters, while a surveillance blimp flies over Kabul. -

An Afghan soldier keeps watch on a street in Kabul. -

Taliban fighters and local people gather in Jalalabad province, east of Kabul. -

Taliban fighters sit on an Afghan Army Humvee in Jalalabad province. -

Taliban fighters travel along a street in Jalalabad province. -

A US Chinook military helicopter flies over the US embassy in Kabul. -

Heavily armed Taliban fighters gather in eastern Laghman province. -

Militants wave a Taliban flag from the back of a pickup truck in Jalalabad. -

Taliban fighters drive through the streets of Laghman province. -

People head to the departures area of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul as the Taliban approach the city. -

A man sells Taliban flags in western province Herat. -

Taliban fighters travel in an Afghan Army vehicle in Herat. -

Taliban forces patrol a street in Herat. -

Taliban militants raise their flag as they gather a day after taking control of key southern city Kandahar. -

Members of the Afghan security forces stand guard along the roadside in Panjshir province. -
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and acting defence minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi visit a military site in Kabul. -

Internally displaced families from northern provinces take shelter in a public park in Kabul. -

Families that fled their homes because of fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces take shelter in a public park in Kabul. -

Many of those seeking safety in Kabul have been sleeping on the streets. -

Thousands of those internally displaced have been arriving in Kabul. -

Afghans have been waiting for hours in long queues outside the passport office in Kabul, with many people desperate to leave the country.
Mr Kurz’s Austrian People’s Party has long taken a hardline stance on immigration. It has won every parliamentary election since the 2015-2016 migration crisis, in which the country took in more than one per cent of its population in asylum seekers.
But it governs in coalition with the left-wing Greens, many of whom oppose continuing deportations to Afghanistan.
The far-right Freedom Party has accused the conservatives of false firmness, saying Austria had not deported any Afghans in two months.
Last week, the Osterreich newspaper published the results of a public opinion poll in which up to 90 per cent of respondents backed the government on immigration.
It linked the support to a high-profile criminal case in June in which four Afghans were arrested over the drugging, rape and death of a 13-year-old girl in Vienna.
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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.”
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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UAE finals day: Friday, April 13 at Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
- 3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
- 6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership – final standings
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Sour%20Grapes
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative
Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
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