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Arabia
Camel jockey age law wins all-round praise
2005-03-16
DUBAI — The forthcoming law banning camel jockeys under the age of 16 from competing in camel races in the UAE has been welcomed in diplomatic, human rights as well as general public circles.
I dunno, watching a 35 kg boy controlling a 1 kiloton camel has its amusing moments.
The law, to be implemented from March 31, 2005, also stipulates that the camel jockeys should not weigh less than 45kg and their age, as in their passports, should not be less than 16 years, Shaikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said in a recent Press statement. Dr Mohammed Al Mur, Head of Human Rights Department at Dubai Police, said that a special committee had been formed for the effective implementation of the law. "The age mentioned in the jockey's passport will be cross-checked through medical tests in laboratories of the Ministry of Interior to ensure that under-aged boys are not passed off as above 16. Applicants for camel jockey job will be subjected to necessary laboratory tests to ensure compliance with age limits," Dr Al Mur, a member of the Executive Law Committee, said.
"We can saw 'em in half and count their rings. The little perishers won't be able to trick us!"
The UAE Labour Law bans all those below the age of 18 from working. However, the same law also allows those between the age of 15 and 18 years to work provided the job offered is not risky or involves hard work. And camel riding is not considered a hard job. It is a heritage sport practised by UAE nationals for ages, he said.
By their standards, it's probably not considered 'risky', either.
Apart from medical tests, parents' permission for their youngsters working as camel jockeys in the UAE is a must. "This will help in avoiding exploitation of youngsters and eliminate any sort of trade," he said with a snicker, adding that the law will effectively eliminate illegal practices noticed in this sports in the past.
So who will score this as a success first, Human Rights Watch or Amnesty Int'l?
Posted by:Steve White

#13  As I understand it, the camel jockeys are slave boys stolen/bought from foreign countries for the purpose. They generally are completely uneducated, semi-starved to keep them small, and have no idea of their age. And of course, they won't have any paperwork other than a bill of sale, let alone parental permission, proper passports and things. What are the doctors going to do, cut off a leg to count the rings? The usual "let's pretend" from that part of the world.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-03-17 12:03:53 AM  

#12  Sadly, no, Shipman. Just heaps of memories. The kids would watch the scrub like hawks for anything edible, we could be chasing goannas at a moments notice, or climbing trees for honey flowers. Great fun.
Posted by: Grunter   2005-03-16 4:49:06 PM  

#11  Hell of a story Grunter! Got any pictures?
Posted by: Shipman   2005-03-16 4:30:34 PM  

#10  Camels aren't all so mean- depends on their treatment. My last job was driving a school bus for an aboriginal school in central Australia. Last house on the run owned an enormous camel, which used to wait at the gate and refuse to budge for me or the bus. I used to send one girl, 8 y.o. to shift it. She would go over the gate, under the camel (plenty of head room) and push on one knee. The camel would groan like the end of the world and shuffle off the road. Girl would walk under it, whacking the legs. He would splay out his feet, so as not to tread on her.
Posted by: Grunter   2005-03-16 2:53:59 PM  

#9  Does this mean Willy Shoemaker's coming out of retirement?
Posted by: Raj   2005-03-16 1:02:00 PM  

#8  Steve White, I liked it. I thought it was really good. But then again, my Mother thinks I'm weird.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2005-03-16 12:23:02 PM  

#7  Awright, awright, awright, I misused 'kiloton'. I was trying to make a word play on kilogram boy and a kiloton camel, and as usual failed miserably. Obviously the camel weighs about a 1/2 ton or so (kilopound?). Henceforth I'll leave clever word plays to the other Steve in the Crossfire Gazette™.
Posted by: Steve White   2005-03-16 10:41:55 AM  

#6  Camels may be somewhat mean-spirited creatures, but I don't wish them to explode. Some more direct method may be available... granted, it may not have such an entertaining value as camel races.
Posted by: Sobiesky   2005-03-16 5:30:08 AM  

#5  Technically a kilo is one thousand times of something: a kilometer one thousand meters, a kilogram one thousand times. A 20 kiloton bomb means it has explosive of power of 20 thousand tons of TNT. But I sure you knew that. Now imagine that: a crowd of Jihadis headed by Binny and Zarkawi watching a camel race and suddenly Kaboom: one of the kiloton camels explodes. :-)
Posted by: JFM   2005-03-16 4:12:14 AM  

#4  Well, camels are called ships of the desert. Just didn't know they weigh the same as one.
Posted by: ed   2005-03-16 2:44:25 AM  

#3  JFM, 1 kiloton camel = massive explosive camel. Hyperbole. Figure of speach. That sort of thing.
Explosive = unstable temperament. Again, a hyperbole.
Posted by: Sobiesky   2005-03-16 2:07:40 AM  

#2  1 kilo ton camel? That is one thousand metric tons or 1 million kilos. We have a scoop here: everyone believes the biggest animal in Earth's history is the blue whale with 170 tons.

But you are right: riding a one kiloton camel would be difficult and dangerous for a 35 kg jockey.
Posted by: JFM   2005-03-16 1:48:18 AM  

#1  I dunno about this. The smaller the person, the less likely the camel can aim his spit with accuracy. They have mediocre eyesight at best. Being small has an adantage.
Posted by: BigEd   2005-03-16 1:46:46 AM  

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