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Diana T Fritz  12/19/2006 04:47:29 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Search Results

Cable 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L        ABU DHABI 04418

SIPDIS
CXABU:
    ACTION: POL
    INFO:   RSO AMB DCM P/M ECON MEPI

DISSEMINATION: POL
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB:MJSISON
DRAFTED: POL:SKRADDANT
CLEARED: DCM:RALBRIGHT POL:JMAYBURY CG:JDAVIS

VZCZCADI113
RR RUEHC RUEHZM RUEHKA RUEHIL RUEHDE
DE RUEHAD #4418/01 3411321
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 061321Z DEC 04
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7089
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0197
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1305
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 4570

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004418 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA, NEA/ARPI, AND SA/PB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2014 
TAGS: BG PHUM PK PREL TC

SUBJECT: UAE OPENS FIRST CAMEL JOCKEY SHELTER AND  REHABILITATION CENTER 
  REF: (A) ABU DHABI 4261 (B) ABU DHABI 4237 (C) DUBAI 
     5097 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  The UAEG, in cooperation with the Ansar  Burney Welfare Trust Association (a Pakistani NGO), opened  the region,s first shelter and rehabilitation center for  rescued child camel jockeys on December 2 near Abu Dhabi. 
Sixteen boys are already housed in the shelter, which can  hold up to 400 boys.  Poloff toured the facility, and was  impressed with the high quality of services available.  While  the center represents a welcome step toward addressing the  trafficking problem, the UAEG will need sustained enforcement  efforts across all seven emirates to eliminate trafficking in  young boys.  These efforts are also getting help from an  Amcit and long-time UAE resident, who hopes to get official  recognition for her private women,s shelter in Dubai, and  expand it to help abused and abandoned children, including  former camel jockeys.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) The UAEG opened a shelter and rehabilitation center  for child camel jockeys on December 2.  The opening was  reported by a number of media sources, including CNN, BBC,  AP, UPI, and local English (but not Arabic language) 
newspapers.  The first of its kind in the region, the  still-unnamed center, located in the Sheikh Zayed Military  City outside of Abu Dhabi, will provide medical care,  psychological counseling, and basic education for up to 400  trafficking victims.  Most importantly, staff will help  prepare the boys for repatriation to their home countries,  although many of the boys are too young to remember where  they come from, who their parents are, or how to speak their  native languages.  Shelter administrators, including Ansar  Burney, founder of the Pakistani human rights organization  Ansar Burney Welfare Trust Association, intend to keep the  boys in the center from eight to 12 weeks before repatriating  them, with the assistance of source country embassies,  consulates, and NGOs. 
 
¶3. (C) Poloff toured the center on its opening day.  Sixteen  boys from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sudan had already been  living in the center for two days. (Note: The Ministry of  Interior reported that these boys were included in the 18 who  were rescued by police several days earlier. (ref. A) Shelter  administrators were unable to tell Poloff and Burney where  the other two boys were located.  End note.)  Since the  center is located in the first medical regiment wing of an  active UAE Army unit, the medical facilities were  state-of-the-art.  The rooms were clean and well equipped,  and the meal served to the boys was large and well balanced. 
It should be noted, however, that although it was 2:30 PM,  the boys claimed it was their first meal of the day. 
 
¶4. (C) The boys, ages ranged from approximately three to ten  years, although many claimed to be much older.  They were all  very thin, and several showed signs of new and old injuries,  including a recent head injury suffered by a boy,  approximately six years old, who fell from a camel days  earlier.  The boys originated from camps throughout the UAE,  and seemed happy with their new surroundings, despite a lack  of toys, books, or a playground. The boys will share dining  facilities with military troops.  The rooms and furniture are  standard military issue.  The only forms of entertainment  were a TV with a few cartoons on DVD, and a soccer net  located next to a parking lot. 
 
¶5. (C) In press interviews, Burney thanked Sheikh Mohammed  bin Zayed (MbZ), Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces  Chief of Staff, and Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, UAE Minister of  Interior, for opening the center and working with his  organization to ensure the boys were properly treated while  in the UAE, and humanely repatriated when appropriate.  MbZ  had invited Burney to the UAE to meet with him and Sheikh  Saif shortly after HBO, working with footage and information  provided by Burney, aired a documentary on October 19  highlighting the ongoing camel jockey problem (ref. B).  Burney said he estimated there are approximately 5,000 camel  jockeys remaining in the UAE, and approximately 40,000 boys  working in the sport regionally.  (Note: The UAEG has not  estimated the number of camel jockeys it believes are  currently living in the UAE.  Embassy cannot confirm the  accuracy of Burney,s estimates.  End note.)  Burney claimed  to have repatriated approximately 380 camel jockeys from the  UAE, primarily from Pakistan and Bangladesh, in 2004.  He  said that the UAE facility, under his guidance, will attempt  to reunite the children with their parents.  However, if the  parents were involved in putting the children to work as  camel jockeys in the first place, he said the center will  instead transfer them to similar centers in their home  countries, where they will continue to get medical treatment,  education, and job training until age 18. 
 
¶6. (C) Burney told Poloff he specifically asked MbZ and  Sheikh Saif to save one five-year-old boy featured in the HBO  program who, despite serious injuries requiring  hospitalization and 22 stitches in August, has been forced  back into camel racing.  Burney said that, during their  meetings, both sheikhs stated that the boy would be rescued 
&that night.8  Burney intends to renew his concerns with  MbZ and Sheikh Saif. 
 
¶7. (U) Another human rights NGO has applied to the Dubai  Emirate authorities to open a shelter for abused and  abandoned children, including former camel jockeys, in Dubai. 
 Sharla Musabih, an American woman who has been living in the  UAE for more than 25 years, is one of the women behind the  project.  She has been running a shelter for abused women  privately out of her home for the past two decades (ref. C).  However, she hopes to receive official recognition for the  shelter, first from Dubai Emirate in January, and later from  federal authorities, then expand the facility to provide  rehabilitation for abused and abandoned children.  Musabih  told Poloff that, once the Dubai facility is established, she  hopes to open similar shelters in each emirate.  Musabih has  worked with Burney to assist rescued camel jockeys in the  past, and she is currently providing shelter to one former  camel jockey, a four-year-old Pakistani boy who has worked in  the industry for about two years. 
 
¶8. (C)  Comment:  Although the UAEG,s move to open the  shelter and rehabilitation center in Abu Dhabi is an  encouraging start, more must be done to adequately address  the ongoing trafficking problem UAE-wide.  Since the UAE  functions on a loose federal structure, it will be necessary  to work this issue equally across all 7 emirates.  Embassy  and ConGen Dubai will continue to urge the leadership of each  emirate to pursue actions on the camel jockey issue. 
  SISON