Ban on child camel jockeys sends a brutal trade underground

[emad]

Ban on child camel jockeys sends a brutal trade underground
By Jan McGirk in Islamabad
29 April 2005


Sarfraz, at 10, is too big to ride racing camels any more. After six years in bonded labour at stables and tracks on the wealthier side of the Arabian Sea, he was deported to Karachi. He has brought two ugly, ridged scars with him. They are testament to a terrifying career, the bites inflicted by angry dromedaries.

The camel-racing circuit may be the epitome of high life for wealthy sheikhs to show off champion camels, but it provides a bleak existence for its child jockeys. Sarfaz is among 340 small boys who have found their way back to Pakistan and the shelter of the rehabilitation centre in Karachi, funded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has recently banned this brutal form of child labour.

The younger and lighter riders are, the faster camels can run, and the optimum weight is about 33lb. "Children are given too little food," Sarfaz told the Pakistani senator Tariq Azeem at the opening of the clinic. "When there are no camel races, we are used for hard labour."

A typical working day for these imported Asian children lasts 18 hours. Since the UAE banned underage jockeys on 31 March, young riders are being repatriated to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Yemen and Sudan.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=634019

[sniffa]

1. cameL jockey

haven't heard that term in years.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Jesus, I thought you were being racist at first!!

LOL, it's not usual to see people talking about ACTUAL camel jockeys!