Sayed Hashemi and his family are a long way away from the fear and violence they fled in Kabul.
It has been only a few days since they arrived in what is now their permanent home in Perth, a city beside the River Tay in Scotland, and the calmness is comforting if not a little disorientating.
A former political officer with the British embassy, Mr Hashemi qualified for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme and was able to get on the UK government’s evacuation programme days before the Taliban swept to power and toppled the former government in Afghanistan.
He and his family flew into Birmingham airport on August 12, and, like the thousands of recently arrived Afghans, spent their first few days in the UK in a hotel room in Manchester waiting for the clock to run down on the government-mandated quarantine period.
After the required 10 days had passed, the family was moved to a hotel in Canterbury, a cathedral city in south-east England, where they stayed for another three weeks with 10 other Afghan families, waiting to be assigned a permanent home.
Employees of the local council would visit the hotel daily to check in on and update the families, but Mr Hashemi said he sometimes felt frustrated by the lack of concrete information on where they would be moving to next and what it would be like.
“In one way it was exciting, but also really nerve-racking not knowing what comes next,” he told The National.
It was also, he said, difficult to deal with the conflicting emotions over leaving their home country for the UK.
“I felt very depressed after losing our home and not knowing what will happen next and our sons felt like they lost everything. My wife knows being here is the right thing for our safety, but it’s difficult.”
A 'warm welcome' from Canterbury's community
Staying in a hotel with young children for weeks on end with no money, belongings or recreational activities was also challenging but a welcoming community spirit helped with that. During a walk through town with his three sons – who are 8, 14 and 17 – in search of a playground, Mr Hashemi, who speaks fluent English, quickly struck up a friendship with a local family picnicking in the park.
“They were so kind. As soon as they knew we were from Afghanistan they said ‘we’re so sorry about what happened to your country’ and offered my kids cookies and ice cream, it was so thoughtful,” he told The National.
“The children were so happy to see the ice cream.”
Soon the “kind and hospitable” couple, Richard and Corinne, were introducing them to their friends and invited the Hashemi family to their house for a barbecue.
“It made me feel hopeful and excited that people were helping us,” Mr Hashemi said.
When another dinner invitation came the following day, Mr Hashemi said he felt touched to be treated like “an old friend".
Eventually he got the long-anticipated news about where his family would be permanently settled, but it did not fill him with excitement.
Starting over in Scotland
Mr Hashemi’s family have been placed in the city of Perth in Scotland, 800 kilometres from where he had begun to feel a little bit at home. When he first found out he said it felt like “going into exile again".
A former commercial lawyer and chief executive, he hoped it would be in London or another of the UK’s big cities where jobs in his field were more plentiful.
But a few days into his arrival in the Scottish city he has warmed to the place, calling it “very nice, calm and quiet”.
“The question though, is whether I can get a job,” he said.
Specialised in oil, gas and mining contracts and with a masters degree in international trade from the US and, most recently, working as chief executive of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, Mr Hashemi would love to work in his areas of expertise.
"I have the skills and experience and can work in any sort of administration, management or leadership work,” he said, but is unsure whether his qualifications or experience will serve him in Scotland. Fortunately, he has received several offers from working professionals to look at his curriculum vitae and advise on employment opportunities.
Ordinarily, it takes several years for asylum-seekers in the UK to be allowed to work, often leaving refugees in professional limbo and financially strapped. But the UK government has said that Afghans who arrived under the Arap scheme will be given indefinite leave to remain in the country, allowing them access to permanent jobs with unrestricted rights to work.
However, if finding work takes time, Mr Hashemi has a Plan B.
“I always wanted to study at Dundee University and now that I’m close by, maybe I study for another masters and advance my qualifications,” he said.
For now though, Mr Hashemi is more occupied with advancing his children’s education. Just days after they arrived in Perth and with the help of the local council and a “very effective” case manager, the two eldest children, Ramin and Shahyad, have already started school. The youngest, Masih, will begin at his school next week.
The challenges facing refugees rebuilding their lives
Opening a bank account, however, has been far more challenging. Required background checks will be difficult to obtain from Afghanistan at the moment and everything – from installing internet to paying for his children’s school lunches – needs a bank account.
“I wish the council or case workers would have made this process easier somehow by introducing us to the banks or writing a letter on our behalf,” Mr Hashemi said.
The start of a new academic year can be challenging for any child, but for these boys the adjustments will be much greater.
“They have mixed feelings. On the one hand they’re happy because they’re safe, but also a bit scared and hesitant. They’re happy to be in a school,” he said. “They’re struggling a little bit with English but I’m sure they’ll be fine after some extra studying.”
Sometimes they ask to go back to Kabul, he said, a thought he expressed himself during one of our many conversations. It remains unfortunately an unpalatable option given the current instability in his war-torn country.
The flat they have been given to make their new home is in the commercial centre of Perth; convenient in some ways, isolating in others.
“I was hoping to be in more of a residential area so we could engage with neighbours and have a sense of community,” Mr Hashemi told The National.
He hopes there will be some sort of an integration programme to help him and his family “learn British values”. Perth council and the local mosque have told him they will be inviting the family to various community events.
As is often the case with refugees, he has one eye on his home country, where his sister and other members of his family still live. “I hear them crying when I speak to them. They’re terrified. They just wanted an independent life for themselves and now people are suffering everywhere. It’s dangerous and chaotic and people can’t leave. It’s a disaster.”
While he longs to go back to his country, it is an impossibility with the Taliban in power, given Mr Hashemi’s associations with the British government. He recently found out that his bank account in Kabul has been frozen and he expects the Taliban will soon seize his assets.
Bittersweet as it may be, building a life in the UK is now the primary focus and that, he said, means leaving a part of himself behind.
“I love Afghanistan and the culture and I want to keep it with me as much as I can, but it is in the past and now I want to engage with the new culture and community around me and build a life.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETelr%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202014%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E65%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20and%20payments%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enearly%20%2430%20million%20so%20far%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
WITHIN%20SAND
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Moe%20Alatawi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Ra%E2%80%99ed%20Alshammari%2C%20Adwa%20Fahd%2C%20Muhand%20Alsaleh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
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
