This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000277 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA AND NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB AE
SUBJECT: CAMEL JOCKEY REPATRIATIONS CONTINUE -- RACING 
BEGINS WITHOUT LIVE JOCKEYS 
 
REF: A. 05 ABU DHABI 4737 
 
     ¶B. 05 ABU DHABI 4903 
 
 ¶1. (U) Summary: The UAEG is close to concluding the 
repatriation of former camel jockeys to their countries of 
origin.  Having already sent 1,038 jockeys home, only 27 
children remain at the Bani Yas shelter outside Abu Dhabi. 
UNICEF,s representative in Abu Dhabi monitoring progress on 
the rescue and repatriation of the boys expressed 
satisfaction about the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Dubai 
Police, saying they have been very cooperative in the 
repatriation process, often seeming to compete with each 
other over who can do more, faster, and better.  The UNICEF 
representative and PolOff attended separate camel races in 
Abu Dhabi where all the jockeys were robots. End summary. 
 
---------------------- 
Repatriations Continue 
---------------------- 
¶2. (U) UAEG continues to be forthcoming in reporting 
trafficking issues.  On January 23, an official at the 
Ministry of Interior contacted the Embassy to volunteer the 
following information: the repatriation of former camel 
jockeys continues while the number of children remaining in 
the shelter drops to only 27.  From March 2005 when the UAEG 
announced its intention to pass a law banning persons under 
age 18 from taking part in camel races through January 14, 
the UAEG has repatriated 1,038 children and their resident 
family members, to their countries of origin, according to 
statistics provided by the UAEG. 
 
¶3. (U) Countries of origin for the children repatriated: 
- Pakistan -- 552 
- Bangladesh -- 311 
- Sudan -- 151 
- Mauritania -- 17 
- Eritrea -- 7 
 
¶4. (U) Countries of origin for the children remaining in 
shelters: 
- Pakistan )- 13 
- Bangladesh -) 5 
- Sudan )- 8 
- Mauritania -- 1 
 
¶5. (SBU) Buthayna al-Khatib, UNICEF,s representative in Abu 
Dhabi, confirms that the MoI,s statistics agree with UNICEF 
data.  She noted that MoI officials have been extremely 
cooperative through this process as have the Dubai Police. 
She proffered that there seems to be some competition between 
the two emirates, police authorities which has resulted in 
each trying to outperform the other in identifying jockeys 
and locating relatives to whom they can be sent. She noted 
that this "friendly" competition has been a "welcome 
surprise" that has been of great benefit to the program and 
the children involved. 
 
----------------------------- 
Camel Racing without Children 
----------------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) Al-Khatib stated that she had been attending camel 
races in Abu Dhabi Emirate during the week of January 19-25, 
and had found no children working in or at the races in any 
manner.  She reported that the races she attended appeared to 
be run by robot jockeys only.  She further reported that she 
had been looking into the implementation of the new licensing 
and identification requirements for jockeys and noted that 
they seemed to be working well.  Offering that perhaps 
because of the high profile of the jockey issue, she has 
found no evidence that anybody has even attempted to 
circumvent the new regulations. 
 
 ¶7. (SBU) On January 25, PolOff attended a camel race at the 
al-Wathba racetrack in Abu Dhabi. The race was the concluding 
competition of a week-long event at the track.  The racetrack 
was open to the public, and although police were present they 
did not appear to monitor who attended the race.  Spectators 
used binoculars and cameras without objection, and portions 
of the races were shown during the sporting news broadcasts 
of several local television stations.  The race was run with 
robot jockeys only, and PolOff did not see any children 
working at the racetrack in any capacity. 
 
¶8. (U) PolOff noted that the race was not as well-attended as 
in the past, even though it was the concluding race at 
al-Wathba.  Perhaps this was due to the fact that the race 
was run on a weekday, but it may indicate a waning interest 
in camel racing.  Since the camel racing season began, 
neither the English nor Arabic language press has reported 
much on camel racing.  When questioned, a reporter at "Gulf 
News" stated that he thinks this is due to lack of general 
interest in the sport, not editorial restrictions. 
¶9. (U) On December 5, "Gulf News" reported on the switch to 
robot jockeys and the impacts that it has had on racing.  The 
article reported that while camel farm owners were supportive 
of the government's decision to ban child jockeys, many were 
refusing to race camels without live jockeys.  One prominent 
owner was quoted as saying that "the sport is in a coma right 
now."  He explained that as it will take three to four years 
to prepare a stable of racing camels trained with the heavier 
jockeys, most of the owners he knows have chosen to eat their 
losses until the next generation of camels are ready rather 
to race with the "abomination" robots.  Contrarily, a UK 
diplomat told us that camel farm owners who met the Duke of 
York during a recent visit to Abu Dhabi commented on how much 
easier it was to use robots because they did not require as 
much care as young boys. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment: We continue to hear anecdotes about 
underage camel jockeys being used in races in more remote 
regions of the UAE, but we have not been able to substantiate 
any of these reports.  Contacts at the Embassy of Pakistan 
state that they have been investigating these anecdotal 
reports as well, but that they have not been able to 
substantiate any of them either.  We will report septel on 
our discussions with Dubai Police this week, including their 
efforts to rescue underage camel jockeys, and determine what 
measures they have taken to tackle the UAE,s continuing 
problem of trafficking in women for the purposes of sexual 
exploitation. 
SISON