US embassy cable - 05DHAKA2316

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002316 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI-THORNE, INL/CTR, G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, KWMN, ELAB, BG, CRM, TC, Camel Jockeys 
SUBJECT: UAE ORPHANAGE IN BANGLADESH NOT FOR REPATRIATED 
CAMEL JOCKEYS 
 
REF: 05/03 THORNE-ENGELKEN E-MAIL 
 
Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reasons para 1.4 b, d. 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: There is no shelter or organization in 
Bangladesh run by the UAE based Zayed Foundation that cares 
for repatriated camel jockeys.  END SUMMARY 
 
2. (SBU) On May 18, poloff met with Sultan A. Al Romaithi, 
Advisor to the UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs, who was 
in Dhaka to appraise the state of the UAEG sponsored Al 
Nahyan Orphanage and evaluate how the UAEG can correct severe 
management problems at the orphanage. Romaithi said that the 
orphanage was founded in 1984 in an agreement between the 
UAEG and BDG at the behest of the late President Zayed. 
According to Romaithi, the orphanage was never intended to 
care for repatriated camel jockeys nor does the orphanage 
consider the needs of that specific demographic part of its 
mandate.  There are no known repatriated camel jockeys living 
there now. 
 
3. (SBU) When the UAEG built the orphanage, it also built a 
shopping center in Dhaka intended to finance the orphanage 
through its commercial profits.  The UAEG set up a trust in 
Bangladesh to manage the orphanage and shopping center, and 
left most of the management to Bangladeshis affliated with 
the BDG Ministry of Social Welfare. 
 
4. (C) During his trip to Bangladesh, Romaithi, discovered 
that the Bangladeshi management of the trust has been 
skimming the profits from the successful shopping center at 
the expense of the orphanage.  The managers do not have 
detailed records of orhpanage operations.  He described the 
current population as mostly young adults and adolescents who 
seem to have been there since the orphanage opened in 1984. 
 
5. (SBU) The UAE Embassy in Dhaka, Romaithi, the NGO Affairs 
Bureau of the BDG, and local anti-trafficking organizations 
have all told us that the Zayed Foundation, does not operate 
in Bangladesh.  Addtionally, the Zayed Foundation has no 
relationship with the Al Nahyan Orphanage. 
 
THOMAS