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The trafficking of children for use as camel jockeys is prohibited
by ILO Conventions 29, 138 and 182 and by the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child - all of which have been ratified by
the UAE.
Children continue to be trafficked from countries such as Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Sudan and Yemen to be used as camel jockeys in the UAE.
The use of children as jockeys in camel racing is itself extremely
dangerous and can result in serious injury and even death. Some
children are also abused by traffickers and their employers (e.g.
depriving them of food and beating them). The children's separation
from their families and their transportation to a country where
the people, culture and usually the language are completely unknown
to them, leaves them dependent on their employers and de facto
forced labourers.
The Government response
On 1 September 2002, a new law came into force which prohibits children
under 15 or weighing less than 45 kilograms from being employed
in camel racing. It also specifies that all camel jockeys must have
proof of their age through their passports and be issued with a
medical certificate by the Camel Racing Federation. 1
In 2003, the UAE Government accepted an ILO direct contacts mission
to review the situation which visited the country from 18-22 October
2003. The direct contacts mission reported that the Government has
introduced DNA tests to establish the relationship between adults
who claim to be parents of children coming to the UAE as camel jockeys.
The Government also provided the mission with a list of 42 camel
jockeys who were deported in compliance with this provision.
These are positive moves by the Government, which should be welcomed.
However, it must be noted that the new law of 2002 is little more
than a restatement of existing policy as the
employment of any child under the age of 15 has been prohibited
since 1980 under the Federal Labour Code. Furthermore, there is
clear evidence that children are still being trafficked to work
in the UAE as camel jockeys, despite the new ban announced by the
UAE Government.
- A documentary broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
on 25 February 2003 2 shows police at a
camel race escorting a group of very young camel jockeys onto
a bus while other officials attempt to stop the filming. The film
also includes other footage of two camel jockeys from Pakistan,
aged five and seven, who have been in the UAE for two years and
who race four times a week. A young child from Bangladesh who
has been a camel jockey in the UAE for approximately six years
is also interviewed and describes it as "the worst job in
the world".
- According to an article for the Xinhua news service,
the Embassy of Pakistan issued a press release on 12 May 2003
in which it noted that it was receiving full co-operation from
the UAE Government to end the exploitation of children as camel
jockeys. The press release stated that the Embassy had arranged
for the repatriation of 21 trafficked children in the previous
week alone and that a total of 86 trafficked Pakistani children
had been repatriated in the last year.
- Two more camel jockeys (aged eight and nine) were brought back
to Pakistan later in May 2003 according to media reports. 3
Anti-Slavery International also carried out interviews with two
brothers who had been camel jockey in the UAE (aged six and eight
at the time of interview) and who were repatriated to Pakistan
on 18 September 2003. 4 Between October
2003 and February 2004, the Bangladesh National Women's Lawyers
Association provided Anti-Slavery International with details of
several cases involving Bangladeshi children who had been trafficked
to the UAE to work as camel jockeys. These included eight boys,
all between four and seven years of age when trafficked, who were
still thought to be working as camel jockeys in the UAE.
- In 2004, Anti-Slavery International was provided with photographs
of dozens of camel jockeys who appear to be between the ages of
six and 14. The photographs were taken in January 2004, mostly
at the Nad Al Sheba race course in Dubai and include children
exercising camels, training, preparing for races and racing. In
training, young children are seen alongside adults, but only children
take part in the race itself. Many of the children in the photos
are clearly under the age of 12, the majority of the jockeys participating
in races appear to be well below the age of 15.
Implementing the new law
Reports of children aged between four and 12 years old being used
as camel jockeys in the UAE have been documented every year for
the last six years. The information above clearly shows that boys
below the age of 15 continue to be used as camel jockeys in contravention
of the law. However, prosecutions of those exploiting camel jockeys
remain extremely rare. Information provided by the Government to
the ILO direct contacts mission in 2003 revealed only three successful
prosecutions, all of foreign nationals, since the new law came into
effect. Given the very public use of underage camel jockeys (as
evidenced in the documentary footage of October 2002 and the photographs
of January 2004) this is an extremely disappointing figure.
The direct contacts mission also received a list of 42 camel jockeys
who were deported when DNA test revealed they were travelling with
people who falsely claimed to be their parents, yet it does not
appear that any legal action was taken against those involved. 5
Furthermore, media reports relating to the 21 children repatriated
by the Embassy of Pakistan indicated that they were all under 12
and that many were rescued when they were brought to the Embassy
to renew their passports. Again it does not appear that legal action
was pursued against those responsible for the exploitation of these
children.
In this context, it should be stressed that the ILO Committee of
Experts (2004) has underlined the fact that penalties imposed by
law must be strictly enforced and adequate and that "penalties
should also be imposed upon persons who, through their involvement
in camel races in any form, have knowledge of and tolerate such
practices to obtain benefits of any nature." This means that
prosecutions should be initiated against those who receive and employ
child camel jockeys as well as those who recruit and transport them.
Outstanding recommendations
The Committee on the Application of Standards (2003) concluded that:
children continue to be trafficked and used as camel jockeys and
children under 18 should not work as camel jockeys. The UAE Government
representative accepted these conclusions and undertook to amend
Section 20 of the Federal Labour Code (1980) to raise the age of
employment to 18 years for tasks which are hazardous or endanger
the health or morals of young people. This amendment is still awaiting
final adoption by the competent authorities.
The direct contacts mission also reported that the Government acknowledged
that the present legal and practical measures "are insufficient
to prevent completely the trafficking of children… for work
as camel jockeys". In this context it also recommended that
the Government adopt provisions which prohibit the employment of
children under 18 as camel jockeys and establish severe penalties
for those trafficking children for this purpose. In addition to
these recommendations Anti-Slavery International would also urge
the Government of the UAE to:
- Take urgent steps to implement existing legislation, including
carrying out regular unannounced inspections to identify, release
and rehabilitate any child who is being used as a camel jockey
and ensuring that all those responsible for trafficking and employing
underage jockeys are prosecuted.
- Provide full statistics, broken down by year, of all the prosecutions
brought, successful convictions obtained and the sentences passed
against those trafficking and employing camel jockeys since 1
September 2002.
- Introduce, as a matter of priority, legislation that prohibits
and punishes the employment of children under the age of 18 in
hazardous work or work that could jeopardise their health or safety,
including as camel jockeys.
- Ratify and implement the United Nations Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children (2000), supplementing the Convention on Transnational
Organized Crime.
1 Those not complying with the law face a fine
of 20,000 dirhams (US$5,500) for a first offence; a ban from camel
racing for one year for a second offence; and a prison sentence
of three months along with a fine of 20,000 dirhams for subsequent
offences.
2 Thompson, G. & Grey, K., Foreign Correspondent, Australian
Broadcasting Corporation, 25 February 2003. Footage was shot between
13 and 25 October 2002.
3 "Two more camel jockey kids arrive", The Nation,
Karachi, Pakistan, 23 May 2003.
4 Interviews conducted on 22 February 2004 at the Edhi Foundations's
Korangi Centre, Karachi, Pakistan.
5 Report of the Committee of Experts, 2004, p. 173.
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