Efforts by the UAE to help find survivors after the earthquake in Myanmar reflect the Emirates' commitment to helping those in need, a senior official involved with the operation has said.
The death toll from the magnitude-7.7 earthquake climbed to 3,471 on Sunday, with 4,671 injured and 214 missing, state media said.
Brig Salem Al Dhaheri, director general of the Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Authority, said the participation of the UAE Search and Rescue Team embodies the country's humanitarian approach, regardless of geography or challenges.
Col Muzaffar Al Ameri, commander of the UAE Search and Rescue Team, told The National that the country has sent 119 people to support the effort in Myanmar.
“In addition to search and rescue efforts, we are currently coordinating with the authorities to see to which extent we can help with providing medical materials and support, and distributing food and shelter to people affected,” he said.
The Myanmar government on Sunday honoured the UAE Search and Rescue Team in a ceremony hosted by Dr Soe Win, the country’s minister of social welfare. He praised Col Al Ameri and Lieutenant Colonel Hamad Mohammed Al Kaabi, deputy team commander.
The emergency team was directed to provide support this week by President Sheikh Mohamed.
“The UAE search and rescue team, comprising Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Authority, Abu Dhabi Police, UAE National Guard and Joint Operations Command, is continuing to support those affected by the earthquake in Myanmar by providing relief, demonstrating UAE’s global humanitarian aid efforts,” Abu Dhabi Media Office reported on Friday morning.
“The search and rescue operation will take place across six locations in Myanmar, with teams working in rotating morning and evening shifts to expedite response efforts and reach as many affected areas as possible.”
The efforts of the search and rescue team from the Emirates are already paying off, the UAE National Guard said on Instagram.
“The team is conducting search and rescue operations with advanced technology to locate trapped victims and assist with evacuations in co-ordination with local authorities,” it said.
“Their efforts have resulted in recovering several bodies, reinforcing the UAE’s commitment to humanitarian aid and disaster response worldwide.”
The UAE team played a key role in the rescue of three elderly survivors at Ottara Thiri private hospital in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw on Thursday, according to reports from the website vietnamnews.vn.
Teams from the UAE, Myanmar and Vietnam were said to have worked together in the rescue operation, with sniffer dogs from the UAE team being deployed to locate survivors.
The shallow earthquake flattened buildings across the South-East Asian country, prompting the international community to come to its aid.
Myanmar's military leaders announced a temporary ceasefire to make relief operations easier.
The military government said it would observe a ceasefire until April 22 after other armed groups fighting the country's four-year civil war made similar pledges. The junta said the ceasefire had “the aim of speeding up relief and reconstruction efforts, and maintaining peace and stability”.
Rights groups and several foreign governments had earlier condemned the leaders for continuing to carry out air strikes as the country dealt with the quake aftermath.
There are also fears that destroyed buildings will collapse fruther and complicate efforts to recover bodies.
Aid experts warn that rain and scorching heat increase the risk of disease outbreaks at outdoor camps where victims are in temporary shelter.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said that food, water and power repairs were needed urgently, in a video filmed in Mandalay and posted to X on Sunday. Many people in the area are still without shelter, he said, describing the scale of damage in the area as "epic". "We need to get tents and hope to survivors as they rebuild their shattered lives," Mr Fletcher wrote in another post.
Relief efforts have also been complicated by unreliable communication networks and infrastructure heavily damaged by four years of civil war in Myanmar.
Even before the recent quake, the humanitarian crisis in the country was severe, with the persistent, multi-sided conflict displacing 3.5 million people, according to the UN.
Aid efforts in Myanmar – in pictures
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SPECS
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The First Monday in May
Director: Andrew Rossi
Starring: Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld, John Paul Gaultier, Rihanna
Three stars
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Respawn%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electronic%20Arts%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsoles%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PC%2C%20Playstation%205%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20X%20and%20S%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
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.”
The%20specs
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FIXTURES
Saturday, November 3
Japan v New Zealand
Wales v Scotland
England v South Africa
Ireland v Italy
Saturday, November 10
Italy v Georgia
Scotland v Fiji
England v New Zealand
Wales v Australia
Ireland v Argentina
France v South Africa
Saturday, November 17
Italy v Australia
Wales v Tonga
England v Japan
Scotland v South Africa
Ireland v New Zealand
Saturday, November 24
|Italy v New Zealand
Scotland v Argentina
England v Australia
Wales v South Africa
Ireland v United States
France v Fiji
SUZUME
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
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Rating: 4/5
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
