Child jockeys and sovereign immunity

IHT:

United Arab Emirates rulers asked a federal judge on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit seeking damages for thousands of children who were forced to become racing camel jockeys, arguing that the issue is being fully addressed and that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction.

The Emirates, in conjunction with UNICEF, in May 2005 established a program to compensate, provide services for and repatriate young camel jockeys to their home countries, primarily Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Mauritania, the court papers said.

A UNICEF report this month said that 1,077 young camel jockeys have been returned home and provided with other assistance, including education. The Emirates on Dec. 11 announced it would set aside a minimum of $9 million (€6.82 million) to expand and extend the program through 2009.

The Emirates banned use of underage camel jockeys in July 2005.
. . .
Federal court in Miami is a proper legal venue, the lawsuit contends, because Emirates royal family members own hundreds of horses at farms upstate in Ocala and because no other court in the world could fairly address the claims.

The Emirates rulers, however, say there is no connection between anyone involved in the camel jockey issue and the U.S. court in Florida and that the country's rulers have immunity as heads of state.

Camel jockey watch

Daily Times (Pakistan): "Sixty-four Pakistani boys used as camel jockeys were repatriated from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday evening. The boys, between three and 15 years old, were accompanied by two UAE government officials on a Gulf Airlines flight. . . . The children had been smuggled to the UAE and used as jockeys in the Gulf States’ camel racing industry. The latest batch took the total number of trafficked children repatriated from the UAE to 295. . . . Most of the boys are not very fluent in Urdu, though all can speak Arabic."

Kashar World News: '"The children used for modern day slavery as camel jockeys were forced to work up to 18 hours a day in the desert heat and fed three biscuits a day to keep their weight down." Fahad Burney, Vice Chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust said.

"The UAE leadership has given us their full support and has shown with their actions that they are ready and willing to help all those in need especially these children. They banned their use, arranged for their release, provided free accommodation, medical attention, food and clothes and now they are sending them back to their respected countries. For this we thank them." Fahad Burney stated.'

$8,927,000 to go

As far as I can find out from news reports on the subject, the first compensation to child camel jockeys repatriated to their home countries from the U.A.E. has just been finalised.

73 cases have received approval from the U.A.E. Interior Ministry to receive $1000 each. The money, called a "rehabilitation fund", will be put into a Punjab Bank trust account. The Rs600 ($15) interest per month will be sent to the parents with the proviso that their child (the former child jockey) is "regularly" sent to school.

Back in 2006, a BBC report stated that the U.A.E. government would give $9,000,000 to approx. 1,000 former child jockeys who had been repatriated to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Mauritania. Working in co-operation with UNICEF, the money would "ensure they receive the salaries owed to them and compensation for losing their income. It will also go towards education."

By my calculations, that means that each child should receive approx. $9000. There appears to be an anomaly between what was promised and what's been delivered.

More info sites, although I can't vouch that all of them can be accessed by everyone in the U.A.E.:
~ Commission on Human Rights Report on Anti-Slavery.org
~ "UAE: Talks on compensation for child camel jockeys" (held at Emirates Towers in June 2007) on Child Rights Information Network.com
~ Dubai Government's Dubaicameljockeys.org website
~ Camel jockeys return home on UNICEF.org

What's UNICEF's role in this? The organisation seems to have played no part in the recent allocation of the funds, nor in the June 2007 meeting as the report states:
Each Board may designate one or more NGOs or similar entities like UNICEF or the Red Crescent Society, chosen for their expertise in working with children formerly involved in camel racing. These NGOs/entities will help publicise the Claim Facility and provide legal and other assistance to children who are considering or have filed claims.

It appears that UNICEF has been removed from the insider loop - although, if not legally, then morally and ethically they must uphold their side of the agreement between them and the U.A.E. to ensure that the children are properly cared for and that the promises of adequate compensation and education are being upheld.

Also, in a brilliant piece of deduction, Dubai Police has stated that there is no organised trafficking in human beings in the U.A.E. because "no U.A.E. National has been involved in any kind of human trafficking case till date."

According to Major General Khamis Matar Al Mazina, deputy commander general of Dubai Police, this "proves that our country is free from such illegal practice."

Others would say otherwise, and if this lawsuit is ever brought to trial and the defendants proven guilty, the muppets in Dubai Police may have to rethink their beliefs.

Jockey Payout

"The United Arab Emirates says it will give $9m (£4.6m) to former child camel jockeys employed in the country.
The UAE says the money will ensure they receive the salaries owed to them and compensation for losing their income. It will also go towards education.

The move is part of a joint programme with the UN children's agency Unicef.

The initiative has seen more than 1,000 former jockeys, from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Mauritania repatriated to their countries."

more here