|
Anti-Slavery has regularly raised its concerns with the Working
Group regarding the fact that children as young as five or six are
being trafficked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be used as
child jockeys in camel races. The children are often kidnapped,
sold by their parents or relatives, or taken on false pretences.
They are separated from their families, and taken to a country where
the people, culture and usually the language are completely unknown.
The boys are often underfed and subjected to crash diets before
a race so they will be as light as possible. Some children report
that they have been beaten while working as camel jockeys and others
have been seriously injured during races.
The use of young children as camel jockeys is illegal in the UAE.
The rules of the Emirates Camel Racing Federation specifically forbid
the use of riders under the age of 14, or weighing less than approximately
45 kilograms. The UAE Government stated in 1998 that it was doing
its best to eradicate the practice and that "any camel owners found
to be in breach of the rules should be severely punished". Despite
this, there is considerable evidence showing that children under
14 are still being used as camel jockeys and that the UAE Government
has not taken adequate measures to tackle the problem.
In July 1999, an eight-year-old Pakistani boy, who had allegedly
been kidnapped to work as a camel jockey, was located and repatriated
by the authorities. They had been acting on information supplied
by the Pakistani Embassy. In August 1999, Gulf News reported that
a four-year-old camel jockey from Bangladesh was found abandoned
and close to death in the UAE desert.
In May 2000, Anti-Slavery received information relating to a four-year-old
camel jockey from Bangladesh whose employer burnt on his legs for
under performing. The childıs life is still in danger and he is
expected to lose one leg. The UAE authorities have promised that
the perpetrator will be prosecuted. However, Anti-Slavery believes
that the UAE should be doing more to enforce existing laws, including
conducting regular inspections to identify and release underage
camel jockeys, before an incident of this sort can occur. Most children
will not be in a position to report incidents of abuse and there
are rumours of torture being rife amongst camel jockeys.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography noted in her 1999 report (E/CN.4/1999/71)
that little was being done to stop the use of underage children
as camel jockeys. She found evidence that:
"clearly indicates that the rules are being blatantly ignored.
In February 1998, ten Bangladeshi boys, aged between five and eight,
were rescued in India while being smuggled to become camel jockeys.
The boys had been lured away from their poor families with the promise
of high-paying jobs".
The US State Department's annual human rights report, issued earlier
this year, reported that boys, generally from Pakistan and Bangladesh,
were smuggled into the UAE by small, organized groups. Police are
reported to be investigating several of these cases, but no charges
were filed last year. The report concludes, as it had previously,
that:
"'a significant number of camel jockeys are children under the minimum
employment age. Relevant labor laws often are not enforced, as those
who own racing camels and use the children come from powerful local
families that are in effect above the law".
The trafficking of children for use as camel jockeys is prohibited
by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
and by the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Conventions
No.29 and No.182 on forced labour and the worst forms of child labour
respectively. The UAE has ratified both the CRC and ILO Convention
No.29.
In view of the above, Anti-Slavery is urging the UAE Government
to take urgent measures to identify, release and rehabilitate any
children under 14 who are currently being used as camel jockeys
and to prosecute all those responsible for employing them, abusing
them or trafficking them to the UAE. Furthermore, we would encourage
the UAE Government to ratify ILO Convention No.182 and implement
an action plan which will seek to monitor and prevent the trafficking
of children into the UAE.
Anti-Slavery also calls on the UAE Government to invite both the
UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography and the UN Special Rapporteur on torture to
visit the UAE to investigate the issue. We urge the Working Group
on Contemporary Forms of Slavery to express its concern over this
continuing problem and request the UAE Government to make a report
on the steps it has taken to prevent this practice at the next session
in 2001, when it will be focussing on the issue of trafficking of
children as well as adults.
|
