Many things will have changed in the Gulf States since I was last there. Happily, one of them is abolition of child slavery associated with the camel-racing industry – one of the richer sports in the world. Twenty years ago, I was appalled to see tiny, skinny boys, some as young as four, who had been trafficked from poor Muslim countries to be exploited as camel jockeys in Qatar. Across the region such kids were being under-fed, educationally deprived, often injured and sometime killed. Now, it seems, innovative application of technology has contributed to much-needed reform.
21st Century Child Slaves
Before the 1970s, camel racing had a long and uncontroversial history dating back well over a thousand years. But then, with the influx of oil and gas wealth it became an organized sport, more akin to the “sport of kings” facet of horse-racing than traditional amusement. Qatar had built tracks, stables and all the necessary infrastructure at Al Shahaniya, about 40 kilometres west of the capital of Doha, as had Saudi Arabia, Oman and particularly the United Arab Emirates, among others. The “sport of sheikhs” became a matter of big money and, as often happens with nouveau riche everywhere, excesses crept in. And in a culture in which slavery persists under the guise of the “kafala” system of migrant workers, so did abuse.
As with race horses, a camel’s speed is increased by decreasing the weight it has to carry, so the industry began trafficking tiny children to be used as ultra-light jockeys. Impoverished parents in countries like Sudan, Pakistan and Bangladesh let them go, and in some cases even sold them, on promises that they would have a better life. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Life for these youngsters was cruel, to say the least. Living conditions were primitive and discipline harsh. There were the predictable injuries expected from putting tiny, frightened boys on huge and unruly beasts. Some went unreported to avoid attracting attention. Other injuries were less obvious. Genital damage from the pounding on the backs of camels resulted in some reaching adulthood impotent. The lack of education and harsh circumstances left many intellectually under-developed. Sexual abuse and death were not unknown. The ultimate injustice may have been that owners who would spare no cost on thoroughbred animals, would spend the minimum on the children. Star racing camels might be pampered with massages and fed the very best of diets, even honey, fresh milk and dates. The children who had to ride them were deliberately under-fed to keep their weight down.
Robots to the Rescue
Happily, I was photographing the last days of this shameful episode. Three years later, under pressure from human rights activists like Pakistan’s Ansar Burney and the Anti-Slavery Trust (the world’s oldest international human rights institution) as well as governments, not least the US State Department, Qatar’s Emir followed the lead of Oman and the United Arab Emirates in banning the practice, decreeing that robots should be developed instead.
A Swiss company designed and built a humanoid torso with which an owner racing alongside the track in an SUV could wield a whip and transmit shouts through a loudspeaker. This first attempt met with considerable resistance, ostensibly because the humanoid appearance violated Islamic principles. More cynically, the robots were expensive, complex and still heavy. Then, a Qatari robotics team was invited to look into the problem. They came up with a simple, ultra-light alternative using the motor from an electric hand-drill, an automobile key fob, and basic off-the shelf components. The result was a tiny, cheap mechanism that weighs much less than a child and doesn’t require much care. Today, the racing of camels carrying mini-robots has become a respectable sport and exotic tourist attraction.
(Photo Alex Sergeev, Wikimedia Commons)
Aftermath
Change didn’t happen overnight and, despite the bans, the practice continued out of the mainstream for some time. In 2009 an estimated 40,000 children were still racing in Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Records in Pakistan showed that some 3,000 Pakistani children were trafficked to the Gulf States and as of 2013 only 1,200 had returned home. Some 300 were simply missing. Today, hundreds who were sent back to Pakistan, Sudan, Bangladesh and elsewhere are now young men suffering from permanent physical and mental damage. Others who had been sold as child slaves have had no home to return to, and remain in the underclass of Gulf society.
To its credit, Qatar has come a long way in the past 20 years. In 2015 it opened the Arab world’s first museum on slavery, Bin Jelmood House , which, I understand, includes an exhibit aknowledging the child jockey experience. Technological innovation has made camel racing a respectable sport, and a visit to Al Shahaniya is undoubtedly a worthwhile and memorable addition to a tourist itinerary. All that is certainly to be applauded.
Nonetheless, the grown children should not be forgotten, especially not by those who profited and continue to profit from the sport. Across the region, they owe much to their victims.
