US embassy cable - 05MUSCAT591

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000591 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI (TROBERTS), G/TIP (FASSEFA), DRL 
(JDEMARIA) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, ELAB, ETRD, KOCI, SOCI, PREL, MU, Trafficking in Persons/Camel Racing 
SUBJECT: OMAN SURVEY BY TIP ACTIVIST COMES UP EMPTY 
 
REF: A. MUSCAT 164 
 
     B. MUSCAT 209 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (SBU) Regional human rights and anti-trafficking activist 
Ansar Burney made a short-notice visit to Oman April 8-9 in a 
quest to locate suspected trafficked Pakistani child camel 
jockeys he believes are missing from camps in the UAE.  In 
his first visit with Embassy personnel, Burney accompanied 
PolOff for an off-road excursion to the nearby camel 
racetracks at Barka and Al-Felaij, but a survey of those 
locations revealed no foreign camel jockeys.  Burney and the 
Embassy nevertheless plan to make a future joint visit to the 
border town of Al-Buraimi, where Burney claims he has 
witnessed "a couple dozen" children crossing the border in 
jockey uniforms unchecked.  Burney speculates that Pakistani 
children are taken there from the UAE to remain out of the 
spotlight while waiting to be employed as needed for UAE 
races.  Embassy Muscat will continue to work with Burney to 
track down any leads he may produce that might corroborate 
stories of trafficked children either in the border region or 
elsewhere in Oman.  To date, however, we have seen no 
evidence to substantiate his claims of trafficked camel 
jockeys in Oman.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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WHERE ARE ALL THE KIDS? 
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2. (SBU) After weeks of energetic efforts on our part to link 
up with Pakistani anti-trafficking activist Ansar Burney, he 
made an unexpected stop in Oman April 8-9 to visit a 
purported "uzba", or camel jockey camp, just west of Muscat. 
In his first visit with Embassy personnel in Oman, Burney 
guided PolOff April 8 on an off-road excursion to the nearby 
racetracks of Barka and Al-Falaij to shed light on his 
earlier claims that there were Pakistani children in the 
vicinity. 
 
3. (SBU) The racetrack near Barka is a small practice track 
surrounded by a relatively poor goat herding village.  While 
a few Omani youngsters came to greet Burney and PolOff as 
they wandered through the village, it was a rather quiet 
Friday afternoon with few people in sight.  Burney was 
puzzled by the serene setting and, determined to find 
Pakistani children, led PolOff on a winding tour through the 
dusty village and its local track.  After a thorough search, 
Burney and PolOff found no evidence of any Pakistani children 
or of any jockey camp near the racetrack or anywhere in the 
area. 
 
4. (SBU) Burney and PolOff then proceeded to a more 
substantial facility at the Sultan's racetrack in Al-Falaij. 
The Al-Falaij racetrack is relatively new and remains 
somewhat under construction.  The fenced track is only used a 
few times during the season and closed to the public for much 
of the year.  The adjoining camel farm houses 500-1000 camels 
that belong to the Royal Oman Camel Corps.  An off-road drive 
around the perimeter permitted a few peeks into the sprawling 
grounds with large, shaded barns for the camels and a 
substantial administrative building in the center.  According 
to the Royal Guard who met Burney and PolOff at the gate, 
visitors are welcome during normal working hours of Saturday 
through Thursday.  After registering at the front office, 
guests can view the camels as they are exercised by the 
trainers.  Despite the limited access on this particular day, 
no children or areas that might serve as a child camel jockey 
camp were in evidence either there or in the surrounding 
village and desert area. 
 
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BURAIMI BORDER TROUBLES? 
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5. (SBU)  Prior to departing for Abu Dhabi on April 9, Burney 
met with DCM and Emboffs to share his views on the situation 
of camel jockeys in the UAE.  He expressed his concern that 
since the UAE has declared its intention to ban underage 
camel jockeys, he speculates that children may have been 
smuggled across the border into neighboring countries for 
temporary hiding.  (Note: Burney was dubious that a 
ministerial decree from the UAE officials to ban child 
jockeys would be forthcoming.  He was disturbed that the 
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has already applauded 
the UAE on a law that he said has yet to be decreed.  End 
note.)  Burney said that in trips to the twin border towns of 
Al-Ain (UAE) and Al-Buraimi (Oman), he claimed to have 
witnessed children, still wearing their racing helmets and 
sitting in the beds of pickup trucks, cross the border 
unchecked.  According to his sources (NFI), Burney believes 
the children are residing in Oman in ones or twos with fake 
parents in scattered domiciles (in contrast to group housing 
common in UAE camps) while waiting to be hired out to wealthy 
Emiratis for races in the UAE. 
 
6. (SBU) Burney believes that Pakistani women are able to 
bribe Pakistani officials to obtain fake passports that 
include pictures of their "children," mostly aged 3-4 years 
old.  Burney acknowledged the difficulty Gulf law enforcement 
would have in detecting false family relationships when, for 
example, a "family" of four arrive at a border crossing all 
having valid passports and visas that indicate a familial 
relationship.  Should the Royal Oman Police ever conduct 
raids on these alleged homes in Al-Buraimi, Burney advised 
that they would need to enlist a Pakistani interrogator to 
truly divine a false family relationship.  Burney said he 
needed to do further research into where in Al-Buraimi these 
alleged false families may be residing, and promised to 
assist PolOff in a future visit to Al-Buraimi to try to 
corroborate these allegations.  He likewise promised to 
provide the Embassy information on 14 Omani children he 
claims to have rescued through his camel jockey 
rehabilitation center in Abu Dhabi. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7. (SBU) The Embassy is keen to investigate viable 
allegations of potential trafficking in Oman.  While Burney's 
speculation about jockey camps near Muscat proved unfounded 
during the April 8 site surveys, we hope to arrange further 
trips with him to racetracks in Oman's interior (which the 
Embassy has previously visited and reported on - see refs) 
and in Salalah to resolve his concerns about the children he 
believes may have been removed from the UAE to other GCC 
locations, or at least to more remote locations within the 
UAE.  As we pointed out to Burney, however, the camel racing 
season in Oman ended in March and will not resume before the 
fall.  In addition to the fact that we have never found 
non-Omani jockeys participating in Omani races, visits to any 
race facility in Oman for the next several months will likely 
uncover nothing more than a vacant track.  His allegation 
that a dozen or more trafficked children may be residing in 
Al-Buraimi with false parents while awaiting employment 
opportunities in Emirati races, however, should be something 
that can be looked into in the nearer term.  We hope to make 
a joint inspection of any identified homes with Burney at his 
earliest convenience.  We also remain curious to learn 
details of the 14 Omani children he claims to have rescued 
and repatriated from the UAE. 
STEWART