Dubai, known mainly for its beauty and countless tourist attractions, is home to many activities such as bowling, cricket, surprisingly skiing and especially camel racing. Camel racing is one of the rarest activities in the world and one the few places it can be found is Dubai. Camel racing has been a part of the Dubai racing tradition for over 30 years now. The camel stables, which houses over 13,000 camels is very large and well cared for by over 3000 workers in different shifts. Khaleed, giving only his first name, used to be a sponsor for camel racing, “It is a very lucrative and interesting sport,” He said while walking briskly to his car “But I stopped sponsoring it a year ago because I have plans to move to another country.”

So many people sponsor the camel racing and enjoy the activity very much. There is one major problem though, the use of child-slaves as jockeys for these camel races is an act that has been going on for years even after a ban was put on such a bad practice.

            “Children from countries such as Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan were sold by their parents to feed themselves. They were then maimed and used as camel jockeys in the UAE” Sagir Kabir, A camel caretaker said. “I am saying were, because the practice of using slave kids has been banned and so it is very rare, if not completely wiped out.” It is now said that robot jockeys are used instead of children and these robots are very expensive and prestigious.

Beniko Hotaru, a long time importer of these robots says “We transport over 2000 robot Jockeys into Dubai every year, and these things are very expensive, but the buyers are willing to pay the high prices because there is no other choice and our robots are very effective.”

            Still there is scepticism about whether children are still being used as jockeys or not. The law against child jockeys was passed in 1993 and till today, the police and the Government of Dubai are strongly against the use of child slaves as jockeys or even on child slavery itself. Serious measures are taken to ensure that this practice is totally wiped out in Dubai. Still, many people find ways to use child jockeys for the camel racing, probably because they are seen to be more effective than the robot jockeys.

`           Adil Absa, a former child jockey, says “When the practice was banned, we were very happy, I remember feeling very happy but wondering what was going to happen next, since I was no longer a jockey. The practice has been banned but I don’t think it has been totally wiped out, I cannot believe that, I have even heard a few stories about this.”

            There are many people who, like Adil, are very sceptic about child jockeys being totally banned, but no one can be absolutely sure of it. The question still remains, whether child jockeys are completely banned and if not, whether it is a practice that will ever be totally wiped out of existence.