Using small children as Camel Jockeys, for the purpose of Camel Racing was rampant in the UAE. Small children from countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh etc were kidnapped and trafficked for this purpose. Though there is now an official ban on using children under 18 in these races, government data indicates that such cases were reported in India even in 2012. In this two part series, we look at the issue and also the cases that were reported. These cases give rise to more questions than answers. What do you expect from a typical two-year-old? To be able to walk & run properly. But, immigrant two-year-old boys on camel farms in the UAE in the 1980s had a completely different childhood. They were expected to ride and single-handedly steer Camels running at the speeds of 40-65 Kmph to victory, in competitive races spanning 10km racetracks. Yes, you read it right. Two-year-olds who do not have the motor abilities to kick a ball in the right direction were expected to be Camel Jockeys. The lucky ones learnt to hold themselves to the camel long enough, and the unlucky ones died trying to do so. Background UAE after striking gold with their petroleum reserves dramatically changed from being a subsistence economy to an economic superpower. This accelerated growth ushered in a new way of life for the Emiratis, transforming their traditional Bedouin culture to a more urbanised consumption led lifestyle. Realising that the dramatic shift was creating a disconnect between the newer and older generations, reviving the Bedouin culture became a priority for the UAE citizens. Apart from the traditional music, poetry, and dance, camel formed a very important part in the Bedouin life. Before the advent of modern devices, camels were a crucial source of income and also a means of transportation for the Arabs. Naturally, in their attempts to revive the culture, Camel was a central theme and the traditional camel races found their way back. During the olden days, in a society where the camel was an essential entity in daily life, camel races were held as part of festivals or celebrations. But, in the urbanised 1980’s camels were transported in trucks to the newly built race tracks to participate in intensely competitive races. The stakes were high in these camel races. The winners were given cash prizes and luxury sedan cars, which isn’t even the main allure for the participants. The key takeaway for the winner of these races is a rise in their social standing and the pride of a owning a winning camel. In such a competitive atmosphere, it became imperative that the participants found able and nimble jockeys to steer the animals to victory. The single most important characteristic of a good camel jockey is, light weight. Lesser the weight of the jockey, lesser is the pressure on the animal and the faster it runs. Keeping this in mind, even in the olden days, agile youngsters of the family were chosen to ride the camel. But in the new competitive races, these jockeys were replaced with children, who obviously weighed very less. Thus began the vicious practice of child trafficking from poor countries to UAE to serve as camel jockeys The Inhuman Treatment meted of Children Boys aged between 2 to 10 years were trafficked from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan, and Mauritania to UAE to work as Camel Jockeys. According to a UNICEF report, in 2005, about 3000 children were found working on the camel farms, of which 2,800 (93%) of them were below 10 years. Most of the children were sold by poor parents who couldn’t bear the burden of raising a child or who badly needed extra income to run their households. Shockingly, most of the parents had no idea what their child had in store once they reached UAE. Agents in interior districts of these countries acted as the middlemen between camel owners and parents of the children. The parents were often misled by them that their child was playing and kept well on the camel farms. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Children lived on the camel farms 24 hours a day. When they were not exercising the camels, kids were made to work on the camel farms. While the camels were fed milk, ghee, almonds and dates, all the children got was biscuits or boiled rice with lentils. Children were purposefully underfed and regularly starved to keep their weight low. For as trivial as a boy eating dates meant for the camel, he could be caned and in worse cases but rarely, could also be given electric shocks as punishment. Children were subject to rampant sexual abuse, inflicted upon them by agents and older children in the camel farms. According to a study, children were sexually abused in 75% of the camel farms. They were forcibly tied on the camel’s back and made to race the animal.