About 300 Sri Lankans who lost their jobs during the coronavirus crisis or were stuck in the UAE after arriving on visit visas in search of employment were repatriated on Tuesday.
Among the passengers were about 100 women.
They were given food and shelter by the Sri Lankan Business Council, the consulate, and Sahana, a Sri Lankan Welfare Association.
There are so many who are desperate because they lost their jobs or had salary cuts
Sri Lanka suspended international flights last month after the island nation reported a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Tuesday's flight was the first after the country shut down repatriations in early October.
About 9,500 Sri Lankans have been repatriated since May and another 5,000 are waiting to be sent home.
"We will give priority to people with serious medical conditions, pregnant women, people who have lost jobs and their accommodation," Nalinda Wijerathna, Sri Lanka consul general in Dubai told The National.
"Apart from people in the parks and on the roads who we have moved to shelters, there are other Sri Lankans who have lost jobs but have a place to stay. But they need to return and we will try our best to provide them with relief.
“They are going through a very difficult time and we understand their plight."
More than 21,000 Sri Lankans initially registered for repatriation flights with the embassy and consulate in the UAE during the early days of the coronavirus outbreak.
Several have since found employment when businesses opened up after stay-home restrictions eased.
“The registration figure varies because some people have now found jobs," Mr Wijerathna said.
“There are still 4,000 to 5,000 who want to go back. Hopefully in the coming two weeks we can arrange more flights to send people back."
Many worked in the hotel industry and others are professionals in travel and related sectors badly hit by the pandemic.
Suren Swaminathan, chairman of the Sri Lankan Business Council said they stepped in to cover the workers' living expenses and rental costs over past few months.
“There are so many who are desperate,” he said
“Almost everybody on Tuesday's flight had lost their job. We helped people with no place to go and required a place to stay."
Former lifeguard Suranga Anuradha, 40, is grateful for the support. He worked in hotels across Dubai since 2013 but lost his job early this year.
Mr Anuradha was among a group that slept in a park in Satwa for five days in August.
“I had no money. That was my situation until someone gave me a number for Sahana. They saved my life.
"I could not believe that I got lunch, dinner, water, juice and milk in the shelter for two months."
Mr Anuradha plans to return to the UAE if he finds a job.
“The situation is bad in every country. I am happy because I can go home now but I want to come back,” he said.
Benhar de Alwies, 29, worked in a pharmacy in Colombo and paid an agent 200,000 Sri Lankan rupees ($1,080) to find him a similar job in the Emirates.
He said he was duped into working in an Ajman supermarket and was not paid regularly.
He lived in a mosque for a few months until he heard about the welfare group.
UAE authorities have cautioned job seekers not to enter the country on visit visas to look for work.
“Now I know that I must not come to Dubai on a visit visa. The next time I will come when I get a company visa,” he said.
Isthiaq Raziq, a co-ordinator with Sahana, said the community prepared home-cooked meals and arranged deliveries from restaurants.
“We have been working with the consulate and the business council to get people out of the parks and into shelters," he said.
“Most people are on visit visas, others lost their jobs and were evicted from their accommodation by employers. Some are on reduced salaries and cannot afford to pay rent.
"We are trying to help as many as we can.”
He said more workers were in need of further support.
The group has distributed daily meals to 10,000 Sri Lankan workers and 250 families since March and supported babies and mothers stuck in the country.
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
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.”
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7.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Law Of Peace, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
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