RIGHTS ACTIVIST ALLEGES CAMEL JOCKEYS TRAIN AT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 004979

SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA AND NEAR/ARPI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/11/2015
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PREL PK AE
SUBJECT: RIGHTS ACTIVIST ALLEGES CAMEL JOCKEYS TRAIN AT
NIGHT

REF: ABU DHABI 4903

Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary: Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney
alleges that underage camel jockeys continue to train after
dark in several camel racetracks in at least three of the
country's seven emirates. Burney, who plans to be in
Washington to meet with G/TIP later this month, told us that
he has notified the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in writing of his sightings of underage camel
jockeys and that the authorities have not replied. Burney
also claims that underage camel jockeys have either been
smuggled across the border to Oman and Saudi Arabia or they
are being hidden in remote areas. Embassy has asked Burney
for additional details and Embassy and CG Dubai have queried
the Interior Ministry, Dubai Police, and the Pakistan
Embassy. The Interior Ministry replied that the reports were
not credible and that police visits to camel farms, which
will continue after the racing season begins, have turned up
nothing. The Dubai Police assured CG that they would
immediately investigate any information regarding the use of
children on camel farms. The Embassy of Pakistan indicated
it had knowledge that children were still working on the
smaller camel farms in the northern Emirates, but almost
certainly not in Abu Dhabi. End Summary.

Night Practice Sessions
--------------


2. (C) On December 2, Pol Chief met with Pakistani human
rights activist Ansar Burney and his wife, Shaheen, in the
lobby of the Abu Dhabi Hilton. The purpose of the meeting
was to follow up a series of text messages that Burney had
sent to Pol Chief regarding nighttime sightings of underage
camel jockeys at camel racetracks in various parts of the UAE
the previous week. Burney claimed to have captured one of
the practice races on video, but because the quality was poor
he said he did not want to show it to Pol Chief.


3. (C) Burney's son, Fahad, sent the following text message
to Pol Chief on November 22 at 7:37 p.m.: "We have witnessed
in the last four nights that the use of underage children as
child camel jockeys is still going on in night and early
morning." After we queried him about where these sightings
took place, Ansar Burney replied on November 28 that the
children had been seen at racetracks in Al Wathba and an
adjacent track in Abu Dhabi Emirate, and in Umm Al Qaiwain
Emirate. During the meeting at the Hilton, the Burneys
furnished more details about what they had seen. Pol Chief
urged them to document their sightings, and also to inform
the appropriate government officials and the U.S. Embassy.
Ansar Burney said he had sent letters to Interior Minister
Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan and to MFA, but had received
no replies. He said he would send the Embassy copies of all
of his correspondence, although we have yet to receive these.


4. (C) On December 5, three days after the meeting at the
Hilton, Ansar Burney sent another text message to Pol Chief.
It stated: "Today, me and Shaheen visited Al Khawaneej and Al
Usha camps in Dubai and found few underage children on camels
in racing tracks." Pol Chief again urged Burney to inform
the authorities and to send the Embassy copies of any
correspondence. (Note: Embassy has requested copies of this
correspondence. End note.)


5. (C) Burney told Pol Chief that during the November 18-21
period, he and his wife and son had gone to camel racetracks
in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Umm Al Qaiwain after
dark to check on reports that underage children were being
used to train camels for the upcoming racing season.
According to his account, the children's "handlers"
(presumably the camel farm owners and their employees) bring
the children to the racetrack in SUVs. The children are then
mounted on the camels and practice into the night while the
SUVs drive alongside the railing illuminating the track with
their headlamps. Burney said he witnessed such activity at
two racetracks in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (Al Wathba
racetrack and a second nearby track),two racetracks in the
Emirate of Dubai (Nad Al Shiba racetrack and a track on the
road linking Dubai and the Emirate of Sharjah),and a
racetrack in the Emirate of Umm Al Qaiwain. (Comment: It is
unclear what the motivation would be to train with child
jockeys if they will not be allowed to race with them.
According to a "Gulf News" interview with prominent camel
farm owners, one of the greatest challenges they face is
re-training the camels to race with either adult or robot
jockeys. Presuming this is true, training with child jockeys
would undermine that goal. End Comment.)


6. (U) On November 29, PolOff noted these reports to Colonel
Al Seyyar, Director of the Abu Dhabi Social Support Center
and national coordinator for the jockey repatriation efforts,
who responded by saying the reports are likely not credible.
He stated, "The Sheikhs have made it clear that this (use of
children) will not be tolerated in the UAE, and I find it
difficult to believe that anybody would flout the Sheikhs
knowing that everyone is watching." He added that police
units have recently been to the camel farms and have not
found any children. He said that these visits to the farms
will continue after the racing season begins.


7. (U) On November 29, Brigadier General Khamis Al Muzeina of
the Dubai Police Criminal Investigations Division (CID) told
CG that they had twice been instructed by Mohamed bin Rashid
al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, to ensure that no farm
owners were using children as camel jockeys. The General
noted that his CID teams had been to numerous farms early in
the summer and had arrested anybody found to be in violation
of the edicts regarding child camel jockeys. He added that
CID would immediately investigate any information regarding
the use of children on camel farms, even if they are only
rumors. Buthayna Al Khatib notes that she has traveled
throughout several emirates recently and has not seen any
evidence that the use of children on camel farms is
continuing.

Where Have All the Children Gone?
--------------


8. (C) Asked about his earlier estimate of between 7,000 and
8,000 trafficked underage camel jockeys in the UAE, and the
discrepancy between his estimate and that of the Ministry of
Interior (2,700 underage camel jockeys),Burney replied,
"Let's talk about the smaller figure, then we can talk about
my estimate." (Note: In June, the Interior Ministry and
UNICEF signed an agreement that allowed UNICEF to provide
technical assistance to the Ministry to enable it to rescue,
document, rehabilitate, and repatriate underage camel jockeys
to their respective source countries )- principally
Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sudan. The planning figure used in
that agreement was 3,000 boy jockeys. End note.) Burney
insists that the actual figure was, and is still, higher, and
that the children who have not been accounted for were
smuggled to neighboring Oman and Saudi Arabia for use in
camel races, or were hidden in remote villages and camps )-
known as "jungles" in camel racing circles -- presumably for
training and racing in other locations. Burney said he
stands by his original estimates. He also refuted reports
that the majority of the underage camel jockeys are from
Pakistan. Based on his experience before March 2005 (Burney
told us he spent time in camel farms, "uzbahs", disguised as
a laborer),the children were mostly Sudanese and
Bangladeshis. Approximately 10 percent of the children were
Pakistanis, he contends.


9. (C) Burney also said that some child camel jockeys who
were repatriated to Pakistan have since returned to the UAE
and Oman. "Their parents returned them" to the Gulf, he
said. He also claimed that in the midst of the repatriation
effort last summer, the Ministry of Interior told some of the
boys at the camel jockey rehabilitation shelter located
within the Zayed Military City compound that they should
return to the "uzbahs" to work. Burney said the Ministry was
pressured by camel farm owners, particularly from Dubai, to
return the children.


10. (U) At a dinner with Emboffs and visiting UAE Desk
Officer on December 4, Ashraf Saddiqi, a local activist who
has been active in the camel jockey issue since it first rose
to prominence in 2004, postulated that there were indeed
children still working on the smaller camel farms in the
northern Emirates, but almost certainly not in Abu Dhabi
emirate, with which Imran Haider, the consular official at
the Embassy of Pakistan who has taken the lead on this issue,
readily agreed. Saddiqi went on to explain that while he had
heard recent reports of children working on camel farms,
these reports had turned out to be coming from across the
border in Oman. He further added that he had heard rumors
that the children who were working on the camel farms were
generally children who had been already been repatriated to
their home countries and had now returned to the UAE, or were
the children of workers who are sponsored by the same
employer and were in the UAE with their parents.

Robots Not As Dependable As Kids
--------------


11. (C) On the issue of robots being used in place of
children, Burney said some camel owners complain that the new
technology is not as reliable as the children they used to
employ. Burney said he found it deplorable that these owners
would grumble about their robots falling off the saddle
whereas they did not express such feelings when children were
involved. One of the owners proclaimed in the "Gulf News"
article that his farm would not race a camel with a robot
jockey, but that it may take a couple of years before the
camels are ready to race with adult jockeys.

Use of Child Jockeys Illegal, But Trafficking is Not
-------------- --------------


12. (U) The law banning the use of underage camel jockeys
that was passed in July 2005 only prohibits "persons who are
less that 18 years old ... from participating in camel
races." The law does not address the use of child labor in
the camel racing industry, nor trafficking in any form.
However, existing labor laws prohibit the employment of
children under the age of 15, and the UAEG does not issue
work permits for any person under the age of 18. A more
general law that addresses all forms of trafficking is
reportedly being drafted within the Ministries of Labor and
Justice.

Comment:
--------------


13. (C) Ministry of Interior officials have told us
repeatedly that Ansar Burney purposely exaggerates his claims
to draw attention to his NGO's activities. Our assessment is
that estimating the number of underage camel jockeys in the
UAE or Gulf-wide is a difficult task. The children are
scattered across "uzbahs" in sometimes remote places. The
reports that there might still be some attempts to continue
using underage boys for practice runs at night are
disturbing, but not surprising. This appears to us to be
predictable behavior on the part of determined -) and
unscrupulous -- camel farm owners and die-hard racing
devotees who want to perpetuate their sport even if it means
placing the children at even greater risk by racing them at
night. We intend to follow up vigorously with our law
enforcement contacts to share the information that Ansar
Burney has provided, and we are going to visit the camel
racetracks where underage children have been sighted.
SISON