As the next host of COP28, scheduled for the end of 2023, the United Arab Emirates has become a mecca of international sanctions evasion, and both Russians and Syrians are taking advantage.

From November 30 to December 12, 2023, the United Arab Emirates Confederation will host COP28. Not only is Dubai, which is considered a major regional polluter, clearing its name in this field, but since the start of the offensive launched by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine and the imposition of international sanctions against Moscow, it has been engaging in a true “recycling” of Russian oligarchs.Money laundering and prostitution

One might imagine that everything in Dubai is rosy and green. While Westerners often have images of parties, beaches, bikini-clad girls or unlimited alcohol in mind, they forget about the much less glamorous aspects of Dubai’s sphere: money laundering, prostitution, the hosting of deposed leaders – such as former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani – or those convicted in their own countries, such as Pervez Musharraf, the former Pakistani head of state who passed away last February, Palestinian Mohamed Dahlan, eternal opponent of Mahmoud Abbas, or many corrupt representatives of Afghanistan’s former elites.

The United Arab Emirates are playing with fire and, more importantly, flouting international law: the official rapprochement between Mohammed Ben Zayed (MBZ) and Bashar al-Assad in recent months, and the arrival of numerous private jets carrying Russian oligarchs eager to shelter their wealth despite the sanctions imposed on their country a year ago, demonstrate once again how little the UAE care about international financial legislation.Money has no smell

Since February 2022, air links between Russia and the Gulf have resumed with renewed vigor after Vladimir Putin raised his voice against oligarchs who were starting to grumble about the conflict in Ukraine.

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Photo: www.theafricareport.com/, Karim Sahib/AFP