VZCZCXRO3513
RR RUEHCI RUEHDE
DE RUEHKA #1243/01 0681156
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091156Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5929
INFO RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7344
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1012
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 8427
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 8946
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0934
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0823

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001243 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KOCI SMIG BG
SUBJECT: A DAY WITH REPATRIATED CAMEL JOCKEYS 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Poloff visited the shelter for repatriated camel 
jockeys to get a sense of their pre- and post- repatriation 
life.  Three boys talked about the difficulties they faced in 
the UAE, and that they were generally glad to be home, but 
that in many ways life continues to be difficult for them 
back in their homeland.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. Poloff visited the Proshanti Shelter run by the Bangladesh 
National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA), which 
accommodates approximately 120 women and children who are 
victims of either domestic abuse or trafficking.  Proshanti's 
most publicized residents over the last year have been the 
camel jockeys repatriated from the UAE.  There are currently 
22 camel jockeys at the shelter; 16 are preparing to return 
to their families, and six whose families have not yet been 
identified.  The purpose of the visit was to interview one or 
two residents in depth about their experiences in Abu Dhabi 
or Dubai, and to compare that to their life in Bangladesh. 
 
¶3. On the day of the visit, the shelter was also hosting 
Major Ibrahim Marzouki, Department of Juvenile Care, Abu 
Dhabi.  Major Marzouki runs the shelter where the jockeys had 
stayed before returning to Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sudan. 
Marzouki said he was in Dhaka to follow up on his former 
charges and to turn over savings accounts that he had been 
holding in trust for many of them.  According to Marzouki, 
these accounts held as much as 8,000 UAE dirham 
(approximately USD 2,200).  Each parent or guardian had to 
show that there was now an account set up in Bangladesh so 
that the funds could be transferred to a responsible adult. 
Each boy's reintegration committee will monitor how these 
funds are spent. 
 
¶4. Shohel and Ronnie were both around 12 years old, and said 
they had worked as camel jockeys for eight years.  Shohel was 
taken to the UAE by his mother, who worked there as a school 
janitor.  Ronnie was taken by traffickers masquerading as his 
parents.  Shohel is an outgoing and confident young man. 
Ronnie was withdrawn, avoided eye contact, fidgeted, and 
appeared anxious.  The officials at the shelter stated Ronnie 
is one of six boys whose parents and family members have not 
come forth to reclaim him. 
 
¶5. Asked to describe a typical day as a jockey, the boys said 
they would wake up at 3:00 a.m. to begin exercising their 
camels at 4:00.  Most days, they would groom the camel, clean 
the stalls, and perform other chores on the farm.  They would 
eat small meals, and engage in strenuous exercise to maintain 
their low body weight.  The boys described running for long 
periods of time while their "trainer" chased them in his 
automobile. 
 
¶6. They would race camels two or three days a week.  The 
first race of the day was at 7:00 a.m. and the second at 7:00 
p.m.  In between races, they would care for the camel and eat 
their "meal" for the day -- one piece of bread.  If they won, 
they could expect a bonus from the camel's owner and 
triumphant gamblers.  Shohel remembered one especially large 
bonus that allowed him to purchase a bicycle. 
 
¶7. Asked what happened when they didn't win, the boys 
displayed scars from cane beatings.  They also had scars from 
having fallen -- or been knocked off -- during races.  They 
added that an ambulance was always kept near the racetrack 
and hospitals provided free medical care to the injured. 
 
¶8. Both boys were repatriated to Bangladesh four months ago. 
When asked if they were happy to be back, the boys were 
ambivalent.  They talked about friends from Pakistan and 
Sudan that they miss, about how hard it was to get used to a 
new diet heavy on rice, and how much they have to work to 
understand Bangladeshi life and culture.  Shohel would like 
to return to Dubai to work in a store, maybe someday own his 
own shop.  Ronnie wants to study in Bangladesh and get a 
professional job, and, most of all, to find a home. 
 
¶9. Rohim was repatriated about four months ago.  He is 18 
years old, and did not have the stunted growth and barrel 
chest of the other boys.  He was sent to Abu Dhabi as a camel 
caretaker about three years ago, along with his younger 
mother and a broker.  His mother returned to Bangladesh after 
two months.  He is now learning to be an auto mechanic. 
 
¶10.  Rohim is happy to be back, but their return has been 
hard on his family.  His mother is single and has two other 
children.  She currently supports herself doing domestic 
 
DHAKA 00001243  002 OF 002 
 
 
work.  While he and a brother were in Abu Dhabi, they both 
earned a salary of 600 dirham a month, and were able to send 
about half of that back to their mother.  Rohim is anxious 
now to complete his training so he can again contribute to 
his family's upkeep. 
 
¶11.   Asked to compare Dhaka to Abu Dhabi, Rohim said in Abu 
Dhabi everything was big: tall people, high buildings, and 
many opportunities to earn money.  In Dhaka, he said, 
everything seems small.  Still, he is glad to be home.  When 
told that Poloff would be writing a report to the US 
government about him, he said to tell the President that he 
is grateful to the US and Bangladeshi governments for helping 
him go home.  He said by leaving Bangladesh, he had lost 
friends, an opportunity for education, and time that should 
have been spent in the company of his family.  He was never 
going to get that back, but he was glad to feel like he had a 
future in his homeland now. 
 
¶12. Comment: The boys made it clear that they do not want to 
return to their former lifestyle, where they were denied 
adequate food, protection and access to education.  At the 
same time, they expressed a nostalgia for certain aspects of 
their former lives.  The reaction of the boys to the UAE 
representative was a vivid display of the mixture of emotions 
these boys need to deal with since they have been brought 
home.  Although a representative of the country that 
exploited them, the boys crowded around Marzouki, vying for 
his attention, and anxious to speak Arabic, the only language 
that some of these boys speak well.  While expressing 
gratitude to those who had brought them home to Bangladesh, 
they are becoming aware of the difficulties of life here that 
contributed to their being trafficked in the first place. 
CHAMMAS