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In the wake of the decision by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to
backdate compensation for former Bangladeshi child camel jockeys,
Anti-Slavery International calls for the UAE to explain the whereabouts
of the nearly 2,000 unaccounted for child camel jockeys who have
not yet returned to their families from the Gulf state.
The backdated compensation of $1.43m will be paid to 879 former
child camel jockeys who returned home from the Gulf state after
January 1993 but before official repatriations, carried out by the
UAE and UNICEF, began in 2005/6.
However, Anti-Slavery International is concerned that according
to the UAE’s own estimates, of the 3,000 child camel jockeys
identified in 2005, only 1,100 children have since returned to Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Sudan and Mauritania.
Aidan McQuade, Director of Anti-Slavery International, said: “While
the backdating of compensation is to be commended it is important
that the UAE do not now consider the issue over. By their own calculations,
they have been able to repatriate just over a third of the child
camel jockeys they originally identified. This is a matter of great
concern, and we would like to know what steps the Government of
the UAE are taking to rescue and repatriate the remaining 2,000
children.
“We would also be keen to see backdated compensation rolled
out to the former child camel jockeys who returned to other countries,
such as Pakistan and Sudan, before 2005/6. Furthermore, adequate
provision must be made to guarantee that the full amount of designated
compensation reaches each child and that all children who receive
compensation are provided with financial advice to help them invest
the money wisely.
“It is also important to stress that children have been
used in camel racing across the Gulf, including in Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia and Qatar. Until the entire region takes steps to rescue
and repatriate children, then there is no guarantee that the practice
has ended.”
Anti-Slavery International along with partners, including the Bangladesh
National Women Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA), campaigned to
end the trafficking and use of children in camel races in the Gulf,
which influenced the UAE’s decision in 2005 to ban the practice.
The tireless campaigning of the BNWLA was also central to the UAE’s
decision to extend compensation to children returning before 2005/6.
The BNWLA run shelters across Bangladesh for children, including
former camel jockeys. The children are looked after at the shelters
until their families have been identified and both children and
families have been helped to readjust to the child’s return
from the Gulf.
Salma Ali, Lawyer and Executive Director of BNWLA, said: “BNWLA
suspects that despite the progress already made, some children remain
in camel farms in the UAE.
“The compensation must be handled with the utmost care.
We are facing enormous problems reintegrating these boys back into
their families and society as a whole. They have lost all hope and
the damage done, physically and emotionally, is irreparable for
some.
“More needs to be done in the Gulf to stamp out this inhuman
practice once and for all. More is also needed to improve the life
for everyone in these communities of origin to help ensure that
offers of compensation do not in fact encourage yet more children
to be trafficked in the future.”
For further press information contact or to arrange an interview
with Klara Skrivankova: Paul Donohoe, Anti-Slavery International
Press Officer, on 44 (0)20 7501 8934/07779 624 385 p.donohoe@antislavery.org
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