Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2002, publiée 91ème session CIT (2003)

The Committee raises its concern on the situation of children involved in camel races who are subjected to exploitation and are placed in conditions in which they cannot freely give their consent, nor can such consent validly be provided by their parents in their place.

Trafficking of children with a view to their exploitation as camel jockeys. The Committee notes the information contained in the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/15/Add.163 of 6 November 2001), according to which very young children from Africa and South Asia are trafficked with a view to their exploitation as jockeys in camel races. It also notes the comments of the above Committee that such racing seriously prejudices the education and health of the children, particularly in view of the risk of serious injury to the jockeys.

The Committee also notes the report by Anti-Slavery International, submitted to the Humans Rights Commission at its 26th Session. This report emphasizes the dangers to which children involved in camel racing are subjected and also mentions a study carried out in Bangladesh according to which over 1,600 boys were victims of trafficking during the 1990s. The study shows that most of these boys were under ten years of age and that they were certainly used as jockeys in the Gulf States.

In this respect, the Committee notes the information provided by the representatives of the Government at the 28th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/SR.734), according to which the involvement of children in camel racing is a priority for the Government. It also notes the Government’s statement that certain laws protecting child jockeys have been adopted and that measures are to be taken to increase the minimum age of jockeys.

The Committee requests the Government to provide copies of the laws adopted with a view to protecting child jockeys from the exaction of forced labour, and copies of the legislative texts intended to increase the minimum age of jockeys, once they have been adopted.

The Committee recalls its general observation published in 2001 under the Convention, in which it requested governments to provide information on, among other matters, measures designed to strengthen the active investigation of organized crime with regard to trafficking in persons, including international cooperation between law enforcement agencies, with a view to preventing and combating trafficking in persons.

The Committee requests the Government to take all the necessary measures, in cooperation with the other governments concerned, with a view to eliminating the trafficking of children for their use as camel jockeys and to punish those responsible through the strict application of the appropriate penal sanctions. It hopes that the Government will provide full particulars on the measures taken, and particularly on the legal action taken against persons involved in trafficking and the penalties imposed upon them.

The Committee also addresses a direct request to the Government concerning other points.