US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI2365

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 002365 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR G, G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA, AND NEA/ARPI 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, ELAB, TC, Camel Jockeys 
SUBJECT: UAE HOLDS CAMEL RACE WITHOUT BOY JOCKEYS 
 
REF: A. ABU DHABI 2143 
 
     B. ABU DHABI 1167 
 
1. (SBU) On May 19, Emirates TV station carried a live 
broadcast of a camel race featuring jockeys whose age and 
weight appeared to conform with camel racing guidelines 
adopted by the UAE Government in mid-March (ref B).  Embassy 
officers who watched the race on television noted that the 
jockeys appeared to be of a size consistent with the age and 
weight guidelines.  The race at the Al Wathba camel racetrack 
on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi was sponsored by Abu Dhabi 
ruling family member, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who 
is Minister of Presidential Affairs.  The race was not 
announced in the media, and Emirates TV was apparently the 
only media organization that covered the event.  As with 
other competitive camel races, there were cash prizes for 
winning camel owners. 
 
2. (SBU) The purpose of this race was to demonstrate that the 
UAE could hold a camel race that conformed with the new 
regulations established in mid-March by Deputy Prime Minister 
and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Hamdan bin 
Zayed Al Nahyan, a Ministry of Interior spokesman told 
PolChief on May 24.  Sheikh Hamdan, who is also the president 
of the country's Camel Racing Federation, had announced March 
13 a law banning jockeys under age 16 and not weighing at 
least 45 kilograms from participating in camel races.  (Note: 
The official camel racing season in Abu Dhabi ended on March 
31, and the new season will resume next fall.) 
 
3. (SBU) June Kunugi, UNICEF Oman Representative and Acting 
Representative for UNICEF's Gulf Area Office, said she 
learned from the Ministry of Interior that the race was a 
one-time event intended to demonstrate that the UAE could 
hold a race that respected the new law.  She said the 
Ministry of Interior told her that police were on hand to 
ensure that underage or underweight boys did not participate. 
 "They made a show of holding children who appeared to be 
younger than 16 years of age," Kunugi said.  The Ministry of 
Interior contact noted that the May 19 races were slower 
because the camels were carrying heavier jockeys, but that 
over time the UAE would introduce lighter-weight titanium 
saddles to speed up the races. 
 
4. (SBU) UNICEF and the Ministry of Interior signed a project 
agreement May 8 for the care and repatriation of an estimated 
3,000 boys (ref A).  Kunugi said that UNICEF's action plan 
probably will not be completed until early to mid-June.  The 
action plan will include details of how UNICEF plans to "map" 
the thousands of boys who have been working on camel farms 
across the country so that UNICEF can then plan for their 
identification and protection within the UAE, as well as 
their eventual rehabilitation, repatriation, and 
reintegration into the boys' countries of origin. 
SISON