A 24-year-old woman from Iraqi Kurdistan has been identified as one of the 27 people who died after a boat carrying migrants sank in the English Channel on Wednesday.
Baran Nuri Muhamadamin was travelling to be with her fiance in Britain when a small boat carrying the group of migrants encountered trouble. It is believed the dinghy may have been struck or caught in the wake of a larger vessel.
Three children and seven women were among those who drowned as they attempted the perilous crossing.
The migrants, the majority of whom are believed to be Kurdish and Afghan, died about 10 kilometres off the coast of Calais.
Baran's fiance said he had been tracking her during the crossing until her GPS signal disappeared.
The man, who did not wish to be named, said his wife had been travelling with Afghan and Kurdish refugees.
“She is not in the UK, which means that she is gone. It is very sad for me, and for everyone,” he told The Telegraph.
“I had continuous contact with [her] and I was tracking her live GPS. After four hours and 18 minutes from the moment she went into that boat, I think they were in the middle of the sea, then I lost her.”
Her devastated father, Nuri Mohammed Mohammed Amin, urged France to put a stop smuggling gangs, who he described as “butchers".
“This is a tragedy not only for me but for the whole of Kurdistan and the world,” he told The Telegraph.
“I ask the French government to tighten their borders and stop those butchers. They are not smugglers, they are mafias. This is my only request.”
Friends of Mohammad Aziz, 31, fear he is among the dead after he called them in a panic, saying the boat might sink.
Iraqi Kurd Peshraw Aziz told The Daily Mail his friend had called him saying: “It's not good, the engine isn't powerful enough — I don't know if we're going to make it.” They have not heard anything since.
In another case, the family of Deniz Ahmed Mohammed, 27, a Kurdish migrant, received a voice mail from a man travelling with him asking them to “pray” for them, but have heard nothing since.
Kurdish migration activist Ranj Peshdari said he believes the dead are from Kurdistan, with most having made the journey to Europe from the Peshdar region in Sulaimani province.
“I’ve been told by people in Dunkirk that none of these individuals had life vests,” he told Rudaw English.
“Despite this, the smuggler, a Dutch Kurd, sent them on their way and promised them that their journey would be short.”
France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said police were unsure about the nationalities of the dead because none of them had identity documents, but that they included 17 men, seven women, a teenager and three children.
Karl Maquinghen, the fisherman who alerted rescuers about the sinking in the English Channel, remains haunted by the images of bodies floating on the sea.
“Seeing so many dead like that next to us, it was really like a horror movie,” he said on Friday as he disembarked from the trawler where he works as second in command at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France.
His voice hoarse with emotion, the bearded man in blue overalls with 21 years' experience at sea spoke of his shock and how he now wants only one thing — “to hug his children".
Mr Maquinghen was the first to spot a body floating in the water from the bridge of the Saint-Jacques II before realising there were “about 15 … dead people, children".
Two survivors, named on social media as Mohammed Khalid from Kurdistan and Omer from Somalia, told investigators their dinghy was hit by a container ship.
It is believed the migrants had been living rough in Calais before the incident.
A group of Afghan teenagers, living in one of the migrant camps, fear their friends are among the dead after receiving no news since they attempted the crossing on Wednesday.
Riaz Mohammed, 12, his relative, Share Mohammed, 17, and two other teenagers, Palowan, 16, and Shinai, 15, have not been heard from since.
The tragedy was the largest single loss of life in the Channel since the International Organisation for Migration began collecting figures in 2014.
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani has called for action to stop the smugglers.
“I'm deeply saddened by the tragic loss of 27 innocent lives in the English Channel,” he said on Twitter.
“Some of the victims appear to be Kurds. We are working to establish their identities. Our thoughts are with their families.
“This is a potent reminder of the dangers of illegal migration and the smugglers who send people to their deaths. We must act together to stop them.”
Paris has called a meeting of European officials to tackle the issue of migrants making their way to the UK.
Mr Darmanin said that more than one of the women victims was pregnant and that the boat the migrants were travelling in had been bought in Germany.
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
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Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
What is Diwali?
The Hindu festival is at once a celebration of the autumn harvest and the triumph of good over evil, as outlined in the Ramayana.
According to the Sanskrit epic, penned by the sage Valmiki, Diwali marks the time that the exiled king Rama – a mortal with superhuman powers – returned home to the city of Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, after vanquishing the 10-headed demon Ravana and conquering his kingdom of Lanka. The people of Ayodhya are believed to have lit thousands of earthen lamps to illuminate the city and to guide the royal family home.
In its current iteration, Diwali is celebrated with a puja to welcome the goodness of prosperity Lakshmi (an incarnation of Sita) into the home, which is decorated with diyas (oil lamps) or fairy lights and rangoli designs with coloured powder. Fireworks light up the sky in some parts of the word, and sweetmeats are made (or bought) by most households. It is customary to get new clothes stitched, and visit friends and family to exchange gifts and greetings.
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More from UAE Human Development Report:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos
Favourite spice: Cumin
Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter
Results:
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1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds
2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42
4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74
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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BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
September 30
South Africa v Australia
Argentina v New Zealand
October 7
South Africa v New Zealand
Argentina v Australia
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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