UAE ANNOUNCES CAMEL JOCKEY LAW IN EFFECT BY MARCH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 001167 SIPDIS STATE PASS TO USTR E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2015 TAGS: PREL ETRD ELAB PHUM TC SUBJECT: UAE ANNOUNCES CAMEL JOCKEY LAW IN EFFECT BY MARCH 31 REF: A. STATE 31467 ¶B. ABU DHABI 507 ¶C. ABU DHABI 663 Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: After weeks of lobbying by the Ambassador, Deputy Prime Minister and de facto Foreign Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed (HbZ) issued a statement March 13 announcing that a law will be on the books by April 16, 2005 banning jockeys under age 16 from participating in camel races. On March 14, the UAEG issued a new statement revising the effective date of the law to March 31 (coinciding with the last day of the TIP reporting year, a date which the Ambassador had discussed with key UAE leaders). The law will stipulate that the jockeys' weight must not be less than 45 kilograms. A medical committee will conduct tests on all jockeys as part of the pre-race handicapping. HbZ called on camel breeders who employ underage children as jockeys to return them to their countries. He also instructed the UAE's ports of entry to ensure that no underage children enter the country for the purpose of being used as camel jockeys. ¶2. (C) Summary continued: The Government announcement of the law follows expressions of commitment by the UAE leadership over the past several weeks to eliminate the trafficking and abuse of young boys as camel jockeys. This commitment and the announcement of this law are positive, but progress on eliminating the problem has been slow. Drawing from Ref A demarche, Ambassador has underlined to a number of key UAE leaders that visible progress needs to be seen on the issue of underaged boys being trafficked into the UAE for camel races and that a formal agreement with the IOM needs to be signed. UAEG officials state that their goal is to have eliminated the practice in time for the 2005/2006 racing season. We have made very clear with our Emirati interlocutors that the UAE risks a Tier 3 assessment in the next TIP report. End Summary ¶3. (C) On March 13, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed issued a statement announcing that a law will be on the books by April 16, 2005 banning jockeys under age 16 from participating in camel races. The government issued a new statement on March 14 revising the effective date of the law to March 31, coinciding with the final day of the USG TIP reporting year. HbZ warned that those who violated the law would face legal action, and that the Ministry of Interior would enforce the law in cooperation with the municipalities. The law also will stipulate that the jockeys' weight must not be less than 45 kilograms. A medical committee will conduct tests on all jockeys as part of the pre-race handicapping. HbZ called on camel breeders who employ underage children as jockeys to return them to their countries. He also instructed the UAE's ports of entry to ensure that no underage children enter the country for the purpose of being used as camel jockeys. "The (federal) Cabinet is keen to keep the camel racing sport clean and in conformity with efforts to preserve traditions and heritage, and to strengthen social bonds among citizens," HbZ said. He urged owners of racing camels to fully comply with the law, adding that President Sheikh Khalifa and Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid of Dubai had issued oral directives emphasizing the strict enforcement of the law. ¶4. (C) In an effort to move the UAEG, Ambassador has vigorously expressed USG concerns on the continued trafficking of minors for exploitation as camel jockeys and delivered Ref A points with an emphasis on the need for immediate action in a series of conversations during the period February 24-March 12 with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, Interior Minister Saif bin Zayed, Presidential Affairs Minister Mansour bin Zayed, Information Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, Economy Minister Lubna Al-Qasimi, Labor Minister Dr. Ali bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, Min State Finance Khirbash, Ras Al Khaimah Crown Prince, and MFA U/S Abdullah Rashid. All acknowledged the problem of underage foreign children working as camel jockeys and stressed UAEG commitment to enact federal legislation this spring that would outlaw the practice. The issue was again raised during a March 12 call on Dubai Crown Prince Mohammed bin Rashid by Ambassador, AUSTR Novelli, and CG Dubai. MbR noted that he did not believe that the issues could be handled in an emirate-by-emirate basis and that there needed to be a federal solution. In each of these conversations, we have urged that the UAE authorities take action to care for the children involved in the camel racing industry, including those observed by USG visitors at Dubai's Nad al Sheba racetrack. We have also emphasized the need for a formal mechanism to repatriate foreign victims of trafficking and suggested that a formal agreement with IOM might be explored. (Note: MFA U/S Abdullah Rashid informed Ambassador that the UAE was interested in working with IOM but would wait to sign an MOU with the organization until after a new UAE anti-trafficking law was promulgated.) ¶5. (C) Information Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed (AbZ) has told us that Dubai, and in particular, Deputy Ruler and (titular) federal Minister of Finance Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid (HbR) has been "the major obstacle" to implementing the plan. HbR is a patron of traditional races featuring young camels that cannot support the weight of adult jockeys; he has been dead-set against implementing the weight requirement. Sheikh Mansour told Ambassador March 12 that Interior Minister Sheikh Saif and HbZ (UAE Camel Racing Federation President) had met with HbR last week to impress on him the need to eliminate the use of underage camel jockeys. ¶6. (C) Sheikh Abdullah told the Ambassador that Abu Dhabi would press ahead with plans to eliminate the abuse of underage jockeys even if the Emirate of Dubai tried to block implementation of the legislation. In such a case, he said that Abu Dhabi would ban the practice and that the ban would become de facto law in the other emirates because of Abu Dhabi's influence. He said that Abu Dhabi (the wealthiest of the seven emirates) funds most of the prizes for races in the other emirates except Dubai, and that if the races do not comply with the law, they would not receive prize money from Abu Dhabi. ¶7. (C) Minister of Labor Dr. Al Ka'abi told Ambassador and visiting A/USTR Novelli on March 10 to expect an announcement "in the next week" on the plan to eliminate underage camel jockeys. Al Ka'abi stated that the UAEG had already stopped the entry of new jockeys into the UAE. He said the plan will include implementation of track weighing stations, enforcing the age 15 minimum for camel jockeys, rehabilitation centers and hospitals, a database to encourage repatriation, and identification cards certifying the camel jockey's age. The Ministry of Interior will focus renewed attention on existing plans including requiring individual, rather than family, passports, DNA testing at airports to establish parentage of children entering the UAE, and preventing work visas for children under 18 (already a law). Other enforcement mechanisms will include penalties for parents who knowingly commit their children to work as camel jockeys, employers of the camel jockeys, and traffickers. These individuals will face charges including reckless endangerment of children, illegally employing minors, and bringing illegal aliens into the country. (Note: Human rights NGO activist Ansar Burney informed Poloff that he had met with Al Ka'abi at the Minister's request to discuss approaches for eliminating the problem. Al Ka'abi said that the government wanted to round up the young jockeys and return them to their home countries and families as quickly as possible. Ansar Burney, however, urged the Minister not to do this, but to commit to rehabilitating them in shelters and working with NGOs and source countries to repatriate them gradually. End Note) ¶8. (C) On March 12, Minister for Presidential Affairs Sheikh Mansour frankly acknowledged to Ambassador that "all the boys" at Dubai's end-of-season race March 9 were underage. However, he also admitted that Dubai was not the only problem spot, noting that the federal Government would "not be able to prevent" the use of underage boys at Abu Dhabi Emirate's end-of-season race at Al-Wathba Racetrack in two weeks. However, he said that the Interior and Labor Ministers had promised to have a law criminalizing this trafficking ready in 3 to 4 weeks. Sheikh Mansour noted that the federal leadership is against the use of underage children as camel jockeys, and that President Khalifa had called the practice "embarrassing for our government." He said that Khalifa has instructed the Interior Minister to stop young boys who were potential trafficking victims from entering the country. ¶9. (C) Comment: This Ambassador has repeatedly reiterated to the UAE leadership the need for action to eliminate the trafficking and abuse of underage camel jockeys ) not just words. The announcement of the new law is clearly timed to respond to our warnings. UAEG officials have told us they are developing an implementation plan and are consulting with NGOs. However, they have also clearly acknowledged that the practice will continue through the end of this year's racing season (which will take place before March 31). We will continue to urge all high level interlocutors to press ahead with the law and to take prompt action on other steps recommended Ref. A, and to note the impending risk of Tier 3 designation. These points will be reiterated during the March 18-21 visit by Department of Labor Deputy U/S Arnold Levine. We also shared Ref. A demarche points with UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Al Asri Al Dhari and his economic counselor, Reem al Hashemi, both of whom were in Abu Dhabi for the FTA negotiations. End comment. SISON