US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI353

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000353 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA AND NEA/ARPI 
STATE PASS USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2015 
TAGS: ELAB, ETRD, PHUM, PREL, TC 
SUBJECT: USTR VISIT REINFORCES TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
MESSAGE 
 
REF: A) 04 ABU DHABI 3955 B) ABU DHABI 296 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Assistant United States Trade 
Representative for Labor William Clatanoff met with 
representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Labor, and 
Foreign Affairs on January 17-19 to discuss a number of labor 
issues related to upcoming free trade negotiations.  One 
subject Clatanoff raised repeatedly was the problem of young 
foreign children working as camel jockeys.  He explained that 
this practice violates three of the five core precepts of the 
U.S. Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), namely, child labor, 
forced/bonded labor, and hazardous working conditions.  He 
reminded UAE officials that inaction on this issue would have 
a negative impact on our ability to conclude a Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA).  Clatanoff concluded his visit by touring a 
new camel jockey shelter and rehabilitation center.  End 
summary. 
 
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MINISTERIAL MEETINGS 
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2. (SBU) Clatanoff discussed the problem of employing child 
camel jockeys in the UAE in the context of the labor 
portfolio of the FTA at the Ministries of Interior, Labor, 
and Foreign Affairs.  He noted that the use of trafficked 
children as camel jockeys violates three of the five core 
precepts of the TPA:  child labor, forced/bonded labor, and 
work conditions.  He strongly urged the UAE to work not only 
on the sources of supply of children, but also to enforce 
existing regulations to control local demand. 
 
3. (SBU) Officials noted that they expect the existing child 
camel jockey ban to become law in April 2005, which will 
assist law enforcement efforts to stop the practice.  Col. 
Nasser Al Nuaimi, General Director of the Office of the 
Minister of Interior, described some of the steps MOI is 
taking to address the problem, explaining that, since camel 
owners have grown accustomed to using the children over the 
past several decades, it would take time to fully end the 
practice on every farm throughout the country.  He told 
Clatanoff that, despite political sensitivities, camel owners 
who knowingly allow children to work as jockeys on their 
farms have been and will continue to be arrested.  However, 
he said that if the owner took all the necessary precautions 
yet it is later discovered that one of the jockeys on his 
farm is underage, the owner would not be prosecuted. 
Clatanoff stressed to all of his interlocutors that a lack of 
action would have a negative impact on our ability to 
conclude an FTA, and that not enforcing existing laws was as 
bad as not having laws. 
 
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TOUR OF THE CAMEL JOCKEY SHELTER 
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4. (SBU) Clatanoff visited the child camel jockey shelter and 
rehabilitation center, which opened in December on the Zayed 
Military City army compound outside Abu Dhabi.  He met thirty 
children, aged approximately three to eleven, who were living 
at the center.  Shelter administrators and Ansar Burney, the 
Pakistani human rights activist who operates the shelter in 
cooperation with the Ministries of Defense and Interior, 
showed Clatanoff the living spaces, cafeteria, classroom, and 
clinic on the shelter,s grounds. 
 
5. (SBU) Clatanoff told Burney and the officials that, while 
he was impressed with the center, the thirty boys at the 
shelter were the &tip of the iceberg,8 and much more needed 
to be done to assist the remaining thousands of boys still 
working as camel jockeys in the UAE.  Burney adamantly 
agreed, stating that opening the center was a starting point, 
and although it was very positive that 16 former jockeys had 
been humanely repatriated since December, the problem was far 
from solved.  Burney said he was convinced that the UAEG was 
committed to putting an end to the practice, although it may 
take a couple of years before the situation was fully 
resolved.  He said he looked forward to seeing the new law 
implemented in the spring, and hoped the UAEG would continue 
to put pressure on source countries to stop the flow of boys 
coming to the UAE to work as camel jockeys.  Burney also told 
Clatanoff that he regularly travels to other Gulf countries 
that also use foreign children as camel jockeys, and in his 
opinion the UAE is a &model country,8 and is doing more to 
try to stop the practice than any other country in the 
region. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6. (C) Clatanoff,s visit helped tie the problem of child 
camel jockeys to the FTA and reinforced the message post has 
been delivering to the UAEG.  Post will continue to press on 
this issue. 
SISON