OMAN SURVEY BY TIP ACTIVIST COMES UP EMPTY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000591

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI (TROBERTS),G/TIP (FASSEFA),DRL
(JDEMARIA)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ELAB ETRD KOCI SOCI PREL MU
SUBJECT: OMAN SURVEY BY TIP ACTIVIST COMES UP EMPTY

REF: A. MUSCAT 164


B. MUSCAT 209

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Regional human rights and anti-trafficking activist
Ansar Burney made a short-notice visit to Oman April 8-9 in a
quest to locate suspected trafficked Pakistani child camel
jockeys he believes are missing from camps in the UAE. In
his first visit with Embassy personnel, Burney accompanied
PolOff for an off-road excursion to the nearby camel
racetracks at Barka and Al-Felaij, but a survey of those
locations revealed no foreign camel jockeys. Burney and the
Embassy nevertheless plan to make a future joint visit to the
border town of Al-Buraimi, where Burney claims he has
witnessed "a couple dozen" children crossing the border in
jockey uniforms unchecked. Burney speculates that Pakistani
children are taken there from the UAE to remain out of the
spotlight while waiting to be employed as needed for UAE
races. Embassy Muscat will continue to work with Burney to
track down any leads he may produce that might corroborate
stories of trafficked children either in the border region or
elsewhere in Oman. To date, however, we have seen no
evidence to substantiate his claims of trafficked camel
jockeys in Oman. END SUMMARY.

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WHERE ARE ALL THE KIDS?
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2. (SBU) After weeks of energetic efforts on our part to link
up with Pakistani anti-trafficking activist Ansar Burney, he
made an unexpected stop in Oman April 8-9 to visit a
purported "uzba", or camel jockey camp, just west of Muscat.
In his first visit with Embassy personnel in Oman, Burney
guided PolOff April 8 on an off-road excursion to the nearby
racetracks of Barka and Al-Falaij to shed light on his
earlier claims that there were Pakistani children in the
vicinity.


3. (SBU) The racetrack near Barka is a small practice track
surrounded by a relatively poor goat herding village. While
a few Omani youngsters came to greet Burney and PolOff as
they wandered through the village, it was a rather quiet
Friday afternoon with few people in sight. Burney was
puzzled by the serene setting and, determined to find
Pakistani children, led PolOff on a winding tour through the
dusty village and its local track. After a thorough search,
Burney and PolOff found no evidence of any Pakistani children
or of any jockey camp near the racetrack or anywhere in the
area.


4. (SBU) Burney and PolOff then proceeded to a more
substantial facility at the Sultan's racetrack in Al-Falaij.
The Al-Falaij racetrack is relatively new and remains
somewhat under construction. The fenced track is only used a
few times during the season and closed to the public for much
of the year. The adjoining camel farm houses 500-1000 camels
that belong to the Royal Oman Camel Corps. An off-road drive
around the perimeter permitted a few peeks into the sprawling
grounds with large, shaded barns for the camels and a
substantial administrative building in the center. According
to the Royal Guard who met Burney and PolOff at the gate,
visitors are welcome during normal working hours of Saturday
through Thursday. After registering at the front office,
guests can view the camels as they are exercised by the
trainers. Despite the limited access on this particular day,
no children or areas that might serve as a child camel jockey
camp were in evidence either there or in the surrounding
village and desert area.

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BURAIMI BORDER TROUBLES?
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5. (SBU) Prior to departing for Abu Dhabi on April 9, Burney
met with DCM and Emboffs to share his views on the situation
of camel jockeys in the UAE. He expressed his concern that
since the UAE has declared its intention to ban underage
camel jockeys, he speculates that children may have been
smuggled across the border into neighboring countries for
temporary hiding. (Note: Burney was dubious that a
ministerial decree from the UAE officials to ban child
jockeys would be forthcoming. He was disturbed that the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has already applauded
the UAE on a law that he said has yet to be decreed. End
note.) Burney said that in trips to the twin border towns of
Al-Ain (UAE) and Al-Buraimi (Oman),he claimed to have
witnessed children, still wearing their racing helmets and
sitting in the beds of pickup trucks, cross the border
unchecked. According to his sources (NFI),Burney believes
the children are residing in Oman in ones or twos with fake
parents in scattered domiciles (in contrast to group housing
common in UAE camps) while waiting to be hired out to wealthy
Emiratis for races in the UAE.


6. (SBU) Burney believes that Pakistani women are able to
bribe Pakistani officials to obtain fake passports that
include pictures of their "children," mostly aged 3-4 years
old. Burney acknowledged the difficulty Gulf law enforcement
would have in detecting false family relationships when, for
example, a "family" of four arrive at a border crossing all
having valid passports and visas that indicate a familial
relationship. Should the Royal Oman Police ever conduct
raids on these alleged homes in Al-Buraimi, Burney advised
that they would need to enlist a Pakistani interrogator to
truly divine a false family relationship. Burney said he
needed to do further research into where in Al-Buraimi these
alleged false families may be residing, and promised to
assist PolOff in a future visit to Al-Buraimi to try to
corroborate these allegations. He likewise promised to
provide the Embassy information on 14 Omani children he
claims to have rescued through his camel jockey
rehabilitation center in Abu Dhabi.

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COMMENT
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7. (SBU) The Embassy is keen to investigate viable
allegations of potential trafficking in Oman. While Burney's
speculation about jockey camps near Muscat proved unfounded
during the April 8 site surveys, we hope to arrange further
trips with him to racetracks in Oman's interior (which the
Embassy has previously visited and reported on - see refs)
and in Salalah to resolve his concerns about the children he
believes may have been removed from the UAE to other GCC
locations, or at least to more remote locations within the
UAE. As we pointed out to Burney, however, the camel racing
season in Oman ended in March and will not resume before the
fall. In addition to the fact that we have never found
non-Omani jockeys participating in Omani races, visits to any
race facility in Oman for the next several months will likely
uncover nothing more than a vacant track. His allegation
that a dozen or more trafficked children may be residing in
Al-Buraimi with false parents while awaiting employment
opportunities in Emirati races, however, should be something
that can be looked into in the nearer term. We hope to make
a joint inspection of any identified homes with Burney at his
earliest convenience. We also remain curious to learn
details of the 14 Omani children he claims to have rescued
and repatriated from the UAE.
STEWART