Country Report: United Arab Emirates
Enslaved because of their size, young boys are trafficked into the UAE and
forced to ride camels for sport | DemocraticUnderground | February 23rd 2006
by Sarah Ibarruri.
 

Sheizad, a five-year-old from Bangladesh, wakes each day at 4 a.m. in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE). He does not remember much about his village, or
how he came to the UAE. He may have been lured by recruiters, sold to a
middleman by his parents, or kidnapped. Sheizad is now a slave, forced,
because of his size, to race camels to benefit his master. By 5 a.m., he is
on the track, practicing, training, and racing the camels. He goes to sleep
18 hours later at 11 p.m. Sheizad stays with other young racers in tiny
rooms. There are races twice a week for which Sheizad's master wins large
monetary prizes. Sheizad has never been paid for his work, yet if his camel
races poorly, he is beaten. In a few years, when he is too big to race
camels, he will be discarded by his owner. With no money and far from his
family, Sheizad's enslavement will end in destitution.

Camel racing is a national pastime in the UAE. But slight young boys are
needed to jockey the camels at popular race tracks. Approximately 19,000
young boys have been trafficked into the UAE as slaves, arriving from
Southeast Asia when they are between two and five years old. Camel owners
are abusive, regularly beating the boys, feeding them awful food, and
preventing them from returning home.

Country Background

The United Arab Emirates is a Gulf Coast nation with 2.5 million
inhabitants, only 20% of whom are citizens. The majority of inhabitants are
from South Asia. Divided into seven emirates, the entire country is governed
by Islamic law and secular laws. Officials are not elected by the public,
but instead are chosen by the heads of the Emirates. There is no freedom of
the press. Because the country is rich in oil, the UAE's economy thrives.

Causes of Slavery

Camel-racers have few expenses and typically enjoy high returns on their
investment. Small boys are chosen as jockeys due to their size and weight -
and Asian boys in particular are recruited because they tend to be the
smallest children available. They weigh less and tend to scream louder and
at a higher pitch than most adults, causing camels to run faster.

While not all camel jockeys are slaves, nearly all those who are slaves are
from poor villages in Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka. The economic
deprivation experienced by some families in these villages prompts them to
sell their sons to recruiters for the camel racing industry in the UAE.
Families can receive from $2,000 to $3,000, the equivalent to twenty years
of income in some areas.

The Process of Enslavement

There are three typical methods of enslavement: 1) kidnappers steal children
away from their families; 2) families sell their sons for relatively high
prices, thus attaining sufficient income for the entire family for years; or
3) recruiters lure boys away from their families, promising an education and
other appealing life changes.

Once enslaved, the boys must train and ride and maintain the camels, as well
as care for their living space. In each of the bi-weekly races, the boys are
strapped down to the camels, causing them to scream louder - thus causing
the camels to bolt towards the finish line faster. Boys often fall out of
the straps and injure themselves; some even die. Violence, however, is not
limited to the track. A poor performance, attempted escape, or resistance to
racing can all result in additional physical abuse. These conditions lead to
60% of camel jockeys dying or becoming permanently crippled.

Camel owners are not the only guilty parties. Recruiters and middlemen in or
near rural areas are used to lure, kidnap, and buy children. The UAE
government - which in 1993 required that jockeys at least be 15 years old
and weigh 98 pounds - has done little to stop the trafficking and
enslavement of the young boys. While some boys have been rescued, few if any
owners have been prosecuted. Allegations remain that the Emirate government
has acknowledged that many racers are too young and weigh too little but
avoid stopping the traffic of slaves because they themselves are camel and
slave owners.

Due to injury or master's abuse, some slaves die before they are released
from bondage. In most cases, boys older than 10 are too heavy to be
effective. They are either dumped in the UAE with no money or
identification, or returned home with nothing, unable to find their parents.
One discarded slave was found alone in the desert, having survived for five
days without water. In such this system, he was actually one of the "lucky"
ones.

Response on the Ground

It is difficult to identify any abolitionist groups in the UAE, as
independent human rights groups are banned. Still, some Bangladeshi
activists - like Professor Abdul Momen - have rescued dozens of children in
Bangladesh on their way to being trafficked as camel jockey slaves. These
sporadic rescues, of course, provide no long-term solution to the problem of
slavery in the UAE's camel jockey industry.