The Belize Foreign Minister has said the country would refuse to accept asylum seekers sent by the UK, calling the Home Office’s deportation scheme inhumane and illegal.
Eamon Courtenay said on Twitter that Belize was not in negotiations with Britain to become an offshore processing site for asylum seekers.
British authorities plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, but the scheme has faced legal challenges.
Reports suggest UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is considering alternative destinations, including Paraguay, Peru and Belize.
Mr Courtney said Belize was not in negotiations with the UK "or any other country" to accept asylum seekers.
"We will not agree to accept exported migrants. That is inhumane and contrary to international law," he said.
Belize, in Central America, gained independence from the UK in 1981, but remains a member of the Commonwealth.
Mr Courtney’s criticism of the policy comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama accused Britain of becoming a “madhouse” during a migration crisis caused by “failed policies”.
Britain on Thursday also sought to defuse a row with Tirana after Prime Minister Edi Rama accused it of blaming Albanians for causing its immigration problems.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly held talks with Mr Rama in London and tweeted late Wednesday that they had "an important meeting".
"We agree that we must break the business model of people smugglers who are putting lives at risk," he added.
In April, Priti Patel, UK home secretary at the time, signed what she described as a “world-first agreement” to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
As part of the deal, the UK paid Rwanda £120 million ($134.7m), but the first scheduled deportation in June was grounded after several legal challenges were brought against the government.
In September, a five-day judicial was held to assesses the lawfulness of the policy.
Ms Braverman has now pushed for talks to expand the policy to countries in Central and South America, with another African country “also in the mix”, The Daily Express reported.
She is under mounting pressure to tackle the migrant crisis as the government faces legal action over an asylum centre in southern England condemned by senior MPs.
On Tuesday, asylum seekers from a processing centre in Manston were left at London’s Victoria Coach Station without accommodation.
They were among hundreds thought to have been moved from the Manston site, a disused airfield, amid concerns it was dangerously overcrowded.
The number of migrants who have used small boats to cross the Channel to the UK this year is approaching 40,000.
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.”
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (11.30pm)
Saturday Freiburg v Borussia Monchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund, Cologne v Wolfsburg, Arminia Bielefeld v Mainz (6.30pm) Bayern Munich v RB Leipzig (9.30pm)
Sunday Werder Bremen v Stuttgart (6.30pm), Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (9pm)
Monday Hoffenheim v Augsburg (11.30pm)
RESULTS
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Samau Xmnsor, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Ottoman, Szczepan Mazur, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Sharkh, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 85,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Yaraa, Fernando Jara, Majed Al Jahouri
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Maaly Al Reef, Bernardo Pinheiro, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Jinjal, Fabrice Veron, Ahmed Al Shemaili
8pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Al Sail, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
