US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI1873

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 001873 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G, G/TIP, INL, DRL, PRM, NEA/RA, AND NEA/ARPI 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2010 
TAGS: PHUM, ETRD, ELAB, TC, Camel Jockeys 
SUBJECT: UNICEF MOBILIZING TO HELP UNDERAGE CAMEL JOCKEYS 
 
REF: ABU DHABI 1740 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1. (C) UNICEF is firmly committed to helping the UAE 
Government develop a master plan for registering and safely 
repatriating underage camel jockeys.  In a telephone 
conversation from her office in Muscat, UNICEF Gulf Area 
Office acting representative, June Kunugi, told Pol Chief 
April 26 that her organization has submitted a draft plan to 
the UAEG, and is waiting for a conference of all interested 
parties in Abu Dhabi in the May 7-9 timeframe to give 
everyone an opportunity to agree on how best to coordinate 
this effort.  UNICEF hopes to sign a formal agreement with 
the UAEG outlining UNICEF's role in the protection of 
underage camel jockeys.  UNICEF is awaiting UAEG feedback to 
its draft proposal. 
 
2. (C) The Ministry of Interior has not issued formal 
invitations yet, but Kunugi said that UAE Interior Ministry 
officials made clear to her that the conference should 
include participation from representatives from UNICEF 
offices in the various source countries, source country NGOs 
selected by the UNICEF representatives, source country 
government officials, and source country embassies.  UNICEF 
has also been in contact with the International Organization 
for Migration (IOM) regional office in Kuwait.  Kunugi said 
she estimates that 80 percent of the children concerned are 
from Pakistan and Bangladesh, but other source countries 
would be invited as well.  UNICEF has identified appropriate 
NGOs in Pakistan's Punjab and Baluchistan provinces, two 
major sources of trafficked children to the UAE, to attend 
the conference. 
 
3. (C) UNICEF's draft plan of action contains measures for 
identifying the children, ensuring that their physical and 
psychological needs are met, and arranging for their safe 
return to their families.  UNICEF would offer UAE law 
enforcement assistance with compassionate interviewing 
techniques to make it easier to obtain information from the 
children about their age, nationality, and employment 
conditions.  UNICEF would work with the children in the 
Interior Ministry's Social Support Centers now open in Al Ain 
and Abu Dhabi, and opening later in all the emirates.  For 
those who cannot be reunited with their biological families, 
UNICEF has included a plan of alternative care, Kunugi said. 
"It's not just rescuing children and repatriating them.  It's 
about what happens to the children afterwards," she said, 
underscoring the importance of compassionate repatriation. 
UNICEF is concerned that if children are simply repatriated 
without the appropriate social support network, they could 
easily find themselves back in the hands of traffickers. 
 
Rescue and Repatriation Activity 
-------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) The number of rescues and repatriations of young camel 
jockeys from Pakistan and Bangladesh increased only slightly 
over the figures reported reftel last week, although reports 
of Sudanese children being repatriated to Sudan increased 
significantly.  The embassies of the two countries commonly 
believed to have the most underage camel jockeys in the UAE 
) Pakistan and Bangladesh ) reported 10 and zero cases, 
respectively.  "The numbers are not what they should be," a 
Pakistani Embassy source told Pol Chief on April 27.  The 
Pakistani Embassy, which had expected at least 1,000 camel 
jockeys of Pakistani origin, has processed travel documents 
for about 50 children, and about half of those children have 
been repatriated to Pakistan.  Of the latest batch, three or 
four were over 17 years of age but were trafficked to the UAE 
when they were minors.  Bangladeshi Ambassador Mirza 
Shamsuzzaman told Pol Chief that neither his Embassy nor his 
Consulate in Dubai has received a single new case within the 
past week.  However, the Sudanese Consulate in Dubai has 
reported a significant increase in Sudanese children being 
repatriated to Sudan.  From an average of 10 children a day 
before the new law banning child camel jockeys went into 
effect March 31, the average number visiting the Consulate 
since March 31 has increased to 26 boys per day, 70 percent 
of whom are actually returning home (see ConGen Dubai 
septel). 
 
SISON