Country Report: United Arab Emirates

Enslaved because of their size, young boys are trafficked into the UAE and forced to ride camels for sport.

A Victim's Story

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 he is beaten if his camel races poorly. 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, 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 be at least 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 they return 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 this such 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 provide no long-term solution to the problem of slavery in the UAE's camel jockey industry.

UPDATE: In late 2004/early 2005, the United Arab Emirates officially endorsed a plan to replace children used for camel jockeying with robots designed specifically for the purpose. However, some human rights groups in the region are concerned that the practice of using children as camel jockeys continues regardless.

Return to Slavery in the Middle East