Dubai: Joint ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day celebrations will be hosted in Abu Dhabi on Friday by the Australian and New Zealand embassies.
ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand commemorating Australians and New Zealanders who have served and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping missions.
The two embassies, led by Australian Ambassador Pablo Kang and New Zealand Ambassador Malcolm Millar, will host a dawn service at the Hiltonia Beach Club in Abu Dhabi at 5am. Australian Defence Attaché, Colonel Darryl Groves, from Australia’s military base in Dubai, will also be hosting the event.
In Dubai, there will be a dawn service at the Westin Hotel Mina Sayegh at 5.30am, with the Australian Consul General, Gerard Seeber, and New Zealand Consul General, Clayton Kimpton, in attendance. Expatriate community group, Aussies Abroad, will host a sunset service at Traders Hotel in Abu Dhabi from 5.30pm.
Kang said he expects dawn service attendance numbers to be higher than last year when around 450 attended the Abu Dhabi service and 800 attended the Dubai service.
Cultural event
Kang added that services around the world would likely focus on Afghanistan this year where Australian soldiers are still currently serving. It is the first ANZAC Day since Australian soldiers started pulling out of Afghanistan.
There are around 15,000 Australians and up to 6,000 New Zealanders living in the UAE.
“For New Zealanders here it’s a way to connect back [to home], it’s a big cultural event in New Zealand,” said Millar.
He added that ANZAC is not about glorifying war but instead about remembering the sacrifices people have made and understanding the risks of war.
Originally, April 25 was marked to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
