Dubai ruler sued for enslaving children as camel jockeys
Web posted at: 9/15/2006 7:59:36 Source : AFP
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MIAMI A lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in US district court alleging that
the ruler of Dubai and his brother enslaved some 30,000 children over the
past three decades for use as camel jockeys, the US attorneys announced
here.

The 56-page suit, which bases its case on international laws banning slavery
and the use of child labour, names Dubai ruler and United Arab Emirates vice
president H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his brother, Sheikh
Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as well as others.

They are charged with "the alleged abduction and human trafficking of
thousands of young boys" from places like Bangladesh, Sudan and southern
Asia, according to a release by the South Carolina-based law firm Motley
Rice LLC.

According to the complaint "boys as young as two years old have been stolen
from their families, trafficked across international borders, and kept in
brutal camel-racing camps throughout the United Arab Emirates, forced to
train camels and perform as jockeys." By filing the suit "we hope to punish
the perpetrators of these vile crimes and compensate the victims for their
pain and suffering," said Motley Rice attorney Ron Motley.

The suit was filed on behalf of six unidentified parents, and the attorneys
are seeking class action status on behalf of more than 30,000 children going
back to the 1970s who may have been victims. The suit calls for a jury to
determine the amount of payment to the victims. The case was filed in Miami
because the defendants have property in the state, including a horse ranch
in central Florida.