A woman who flew to the UK to study at the University of Oxford has described shocking scenes at Heathrow Airport in London where hundreds of people were “squashed against each other” for hours while queuing for immigration checks.
Ayushi Aruna Agarwal, 26, was forced to stand in line for about three hours in a packed waiting hall on Tuesday morning while Border Force staff checked passengers’ documents.
She said despite preparing for possible delays due to end of summer surge in air travel, she and other passengers were “shocked over how long the line was”.
Having joined the queue at 7.50am after landing from New Delhi, she was not released until 10.30am.
“There was no social distancing," the PhD student told The National. "There was a five-centimetre gap between me and the next passengers. We were totally squashed up against each other.
“In the middle of the queue I noticed a sign telling people to keep social distancing and stand two metres apart.
“It’s paying lip service to have that sign there because it’s not possible to stand two metres apart with that kind of crowd in a small place in the immigration section.
“I was really annoyed by the fact that first I had to stand in line and then I cannot even move around while self-isolating for a week. I paid £130 for a Covid test and have to quarantine for 10 days.
“It also puts me at risk. What if you didn’t get Covid on the flight but got it standing in the line? It’s totally the reverse of how you want people to enter the UK.”
Ms Agarwal, who works as an assistant professor at Jindal Global University in Delhi, said staff offered “no real help” to weary travellers in the queues.
She said to avoid having to go to the bathroom and lose her place in the queue she took only sips of water.
The long line included elderly passengers and young children. Many of the youths grew increasingly restless as the hours passed.
“I am young and fit but I had to put my backpack down," Ms Agarwal said. "I saw some old people and a few young children. Kids don’t like being in a place for a long time and they were fidgeting.
“There were people sitting on trolleys and people kicking their bags along the ground.”
The UK’s busiest airport has in recent days been blighted by lengthy waiting times in the immigration hall.
Frustrated customers have taken to social media to vent their anger and portray the chaotic scenes by posting photos.
On Wednesday morning, one passenger said they had to wait “four hours to clear immigration” and urged the airport to take action to reduce waiting times.
Another woman who landed at Heathrow on Tuesday posted a video on Twitter showing a long queue of people in a corridor.
Anticipating a lengthy wait, she said she “should have brought a tent, a sleeping bag and a mirror to see myself age in real time”.
One man said there was a huge backlog on Monday at passport control desks for those heading to connecting flights.
"Flying into Heathrow there is just one person on flight connections passport control, and a massive queue. Pathetic," he said.
And last weekend people reported having to wait up to five hours to pass through immigration checks at Heathrow.
One man called it a “disgrace” that only two desks were open to British passport holders and said “families with kids under 12 have to queue for two hours”.
Another unhappy flyer said it was “chaos” in their queue with pregnant women, young children and elderly men and women forced to wait.
They said: “Chaos at Heathrow Airport Terminal 4. Four hours waiting to go through immigration. Families with children, pregnant ladies and old folks. Everyone had to wait. Is that human?”
While Ms Agarwal said staff had asked her for proof of a Covid-19 test, many other travellers have claimed they were waved through without questions.
A Home Office representative said air travellers have been warned about possible longer waiting times as Border Force staff have to check for negative Covid tests.
“Throughout the pandemic we have been clear that queue times may be longer as we ensure all passengers are compliant with the health measures put in place to keep the UK public safe," they said.
“This weekend was the busiest of the year for returning passengers, with particularly high numbers of families with children under the age of 12 who cannot use e-gates.
“We have endeavoured to improve waiting times this week, for example by flexibly deploying staff across Heathrow Airport, and continue to work closely with all airports and airlines to make sure all passengers can have a safe and hassle-free journey.”
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.”
Three trading apps to try
Sharad Nair recommends three investment apps for UAE residents:
- For beginners or people who want to start investing with limited capital, Mr Nair suggests eToro. “The low fees and low minimum balance requirements make the platform more accessible,” he says. “The user interface is straightforward to understand and operate, while its social element may help ease beginners into the idea of investing money by looking to a virtual community.”
- If you’re an experienced investor, and have $10,000 or more to invest, consider Saxo Bank. “Saxo Bank offers a more comprehensive trading platform with advanced features and insight for more experienced users. It offers a more personalised approach to opening and operating an account on their platform,” he says.
- Finally, StashAway could work for those who want a hands-off approach to their investing. “It removes one of the biggest challenges for novice traders: picking the securities in their portfolio,” Mr Nair says. “A goal-based approach or view towards investing can help motivate residents who may usually shy away from investment platforms.”
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
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UAE squad to face Ireland
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri (vice-captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmad, Zawar Farid, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Adithya Shetty, Vriitya Aravind
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Operation Mincemeat'
Director: John Madden
Cast: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfayden, Kelly Macdonald and Penelope Wilton
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The Rub of Time: Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump and Other Pieces 1986-2016
Martin Amis,
Jonathan Cape
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
'Will%20of%20the%20People'
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