http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1519343/posts?page=24#24
Sheik accused in camel jockey abuse plot
Excerpt:
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Sheik Mohammed, one of the richest horse buyers in Kentucky and the world, has been implicated in the slave trade of child camel jockeys by a cable TV news program.
A report aired this week on HBO's Real Sports includes footage of appalling living conditions at camel-training camps and alleges that boy camel jockeys -- some as young as 3 -- are kidnapped or sold into slavery, starved, beaten and raped. The report links the abuses to Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.
Sheik Mohammed is the crown prince of Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates. He also serves as defense minister for the UAE.
More, various sources:
Child camel jockeys in the UAE
In 2004, Anti-Slavery International sent a photographer to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to photograph children racing and training in the Gulf state. The photographs prove that, despite the Government's repeated statements that this practice has stopped, it is still a problem. Two years ago, the Government announced that using children under 15 and lighter than 45 kilograms to race camels would be banned from 1 September 2002 and offenders punished. For more about this issue, see our submission to the UN.
Oil Money
Before the Gulf states were blessed with oil the practice was not as widespread as it is today. Now the rulers of the Gulf states have more money than they know what to do with. You may well have seen reports of some of the extravagances that occur on television. The richest horse race in the world is in Dubai, sponsors are few and, as the UAE is a Muslim country, gambling income is nil. Greyhound races are similarly run at great expense and generate no income. Such sports are a means for the ruling families to compete with each other. Massive sums of money are spent on the animals by each family. There are special animal hospitals for the racing camels where no expense is spared. A camel jockey however is nothing more than ballast. If he gets hurt it is easy to buy another camel jockey.
The children go outside to play and never return
The jockeys will tipically start their life in the same way as millions of other children in the Indian subcontinent. Perhaps having parents who are poor, but still have dreams for their sons which do not involve camels. Then maybe at the age of two or three the children go outside to play and never return. They are kidnapped by local gangs who will deal in any commodity that makes money. The children will then be taken by adults who when questioned may claim to be the children's parents. They will then travel, perhaps along the ancient slave routes to Karachi, and across the Gulf.
No holiday riding camels
The work of a camel jockey is no holiday. Away from their parents, in a foreign country with no legal status, the children have no one to protect them. They must exercise the camels seven days a week in heat that even the local people shelter from. There is no choice about whether to work on the camels or not. A beating or two and a couple of days without food convinces them all. There is nowhere to run to. Many of the children are told a story about being unwanted and being sold by their parents into slavery, just in case they were considering trying to get home. Before the camel races the children go without food, not as a punishment, but to keep their weight down so the camels will run faster. The children receive no schooling and grow up without even knowing the country of their birth.
