UAE gives funds for former child jockeys

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates said Sunday it has set aside more than eight million dollars for the rehabilitation of children, including Sri Lankans, used as camel jockeys, under an accord with the UN children's fund.

The UAE Government has allocated 30 million dirhams (8.3 million dollars) "to assure that all underage jockeys who were employed in the UAE receive salaries and severance compensation," an official statement said.

Most cases involve children from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

More than 1,000 underage camel jockeys have been repatriated since an accord was signed with the United Nations children's fund UNICEF in May 2005 that has been extended to May 2009, according to the statement.

The accord banned the use of children under 16 or weighing less than 45 kilograms (100 pounds) for camel racing, a national sport in the oil-rich Gulf Arab monarchies.

The UAE now plans to use robots to race camels rather than children.

In September, a civil lawsuit was filed in a US court in Florida alleging the ruler of Dubai, a member of the UAE federation, and his brother enslaved some 30,000 children over the past three decades for use as camel jockeys.

They were charged with "the alleged abduction and human trafficking of thousands of young boys" from places like Bangladesh, Sudan and southern Asia, according to a US law firm.