Are you shocked and surprised after reading the above title? If you are than it is completely normal because being a human being you should be surprised and shocked after reading such a title.
I don't know how many of you have heard of 'child camel jockeys'. If you haven't heard of it than don't worry; I will give you an overview of this, although in brief, before I go on to discuss on my topic matter which is focused on the title of this post.
'Child camel jockeys' are children, as young as three, who are used in the popular sport of camel racing in the Persian Gulf States' camel racing industry, a centuries- old desert tradition and tourist attraction in the Gulf. This traditional Bedouin sports pastime has now turned into a a multi- million dollar activity. Are you surprised? Don't be because it is just the beginning! This facts of this material of mine is going to scare you!
Shameem Miah, a three year old boy from Bangladesh, was made to race camels in the Gulf State of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)(http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/05/2009521102618418322.html)! Many young children like Shameem are mostly trafficked from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sudan, despite it being illegal to use jockeys younger than 15 or weighing less than 45 kilos (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4236123.stm). There used to be some 40, 000 children working in this industry across the Gulf (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4236123.stm).
Shameem's father Abul Kashem Miah paid the traffickers in Bangladesh US $4500 (by selling all their land and belongings, even went into debt) to get to Dubai after being being lured by promise of a better life. On arrival in Dubai, Shameem and his two brothers were separated by the traffickers themselves to take part in camel races.
The terrified screams of the children drives the camels faster, which satisfies the camel owners!
Many children like Shameem were deliberately kept without foods for many days so that they remain below 20 kilos, as the children are prized for their light weights! They used to be just fed biscuits and water, and slept directly on the sand. Even the children were given electric shocks whenever they were found to be overweight!
The camel owners used to even beat him when he used to lose a camel race, said Shameem Miah (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/05/2009521102618418322.html). Shameem, a toddler was first sat upon a camel's back when he just learned to walk. Shameem's other two brothers were also forced into slavery to serve as camel jockeys. According to one of his brother, Munna, Shameem was so small that he used to be strapped on to the camel (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/05/2009521102618418322.html).
However, now Shameem Miah along with some 878 Bangladeshi children has been returned to their family in Bangladesh, as they were deemed to be too old and heavy, and also as the use of child camel jockey has been banned in 2005 in the UAE. And to an unprecedented move they have even been compensated by the UAE for years of suffering as child camel jockeys, after following pressure from the human rights groups. This pressure have eventually led the UAE to ban the use of child jockeys in 2005, and this has been replaced by 'robots' now. Now it seems that the technology has met the tradition. So now we can hope that the use of child camel jockey would be completely eliminated.
Till to this date, Shameem Miah still bears the scars of 5 years of abuse by his employer and countless falls from the back of the charging camels. Many other child jockeys have even suffered life long injuries from even being trampled under the charging camels. Unfortunately some even died too!
Children like Shameem used to live in a barbed wire encircled camp near the desert race track. Shameem used to be only paid US $4 a month for working 18 hours a day! However, he was lucky enough to at least get this amount of wage because there are a lot of other children like Shameem who were not even paid a single penny after being sold into slavery.
"There was a child in the camp... because he wanted to leave the camp... one of the racetrack owners ran over [him] in a truck and killed him", quoted from Akbar, a eight years old boy who almost all his life lived and worked as a camel jockey at a race track in Abu Dhabi(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4236123.stm).
Shameem even said that he rarely wore any helmets, and even burned his feet on the hot desert as he was not given a shoe (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/05/2009521102618418322.html).
Although Shameem is no longer in the camel racing sport and also has been compensated, but this experience is going to remain with him forever.
Still now many children like Shameem are awaiting compensation, and even many are still missing. Although there is a ban on child camel jockeys, but according to the UK- based human rights group, Anti- Slavery International, some 2000 unaccounted for child camel jockeys have not yet returned to their families from the Gulf States. As many children were even killed, so there is even no record of that too.
Source
