UAE HOLDS CAMEL RACE WITHOUT BOY JOCKEYS

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 002365

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR G, G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA, AND NEA/ARPI
STATE ALSO PASS TO USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ELAB TC
SUBJECT: UAE HOLDS CAMEL RACE WITHOUT BOY JOCKEYS

REF: A. ABU DHABI 2143


B. ABU DHABI 1167


1. (SBU) On May 19, Emirates TV station carried a live
broadcast of a camel race featuring jockeys whose age and
weight appeared to conform with camel racing guidelines
adopted by the UAE Government in mid-March (ref B). Embassy
officers who watched the race on television noted that the
jockeys appeared to be of a size consistent with the age and
weight guidelines. The race at the Al Wathba camel racetrack
on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi was sponsored by Abu Dhabi
ruling family member, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who
is Minister of Presidential Affairs. The race was not
announced in the media, and Emirates TV was apparently the
only media organization that covered the event. As with
other competitive camel races, there were cash prizes for
winning camel owners.


2. (SBU) The purpose of this race was to demonstrate that the
UAE could hold a camel race that conformed with the new
regulations established in mid-March by Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Hamdan bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, a Ministry of Interior spokesman told
PolChief on May 24. Sheikh Hamdan, who is also the president
of the country's Camel Racing Federation, had announced March
13 a law banning jockeys under age 16 and not weighing at
least 45 kilograms from participating in camel races. (Note:
The official camel racing season in Abu Dhabi ended on March
31, and the new season will resume next fall.)


3. (SBU) June Kunugi, UNICEF Oman Representative and Acting
Representative for UNICEF's Gulf Area Office, said she
learned from the Ministry of Interior that the race was a
one-time event intended to demonstrate that the UAE could
hold a race that respected the new law. She said the
Ministry of Interior told her that police were on hand to
ensure that underage or underweight boys did not participate.
"They made a show of holding children who appeared to be
younger than 16 years of age," Kunugi said. The Ministry of
Interior contact noted that the May 19 races were slower
because the camels were carrying heavier jockeys, but that
over time the UAE would introduce lighter-weight titanium
saddles to speed up the races.


4. (SBU) UNICEF and the Ministry of Interior signed a project
agreement May 8 for the care and repatriation of an estimated
3,000 boys (ref A). Kunugi said that UNICEF's action plan
probably will not be completed until early to mid-June. The
action plan will include details of how UNICEF plans to "map"
the thousands of boys who have been working on camel farms
across the country so that UNICEF can then plan for their
identification and protection within the UAE, as well as
their eventual rehabilitation, repatriation, and
reintegration into the boys' countries of origin.
SISON