Camel jockey compensation coming?
Will the promised payments to child camel jockeys finally take place? Perhaps. The National reports:
Click "camel jockeys" to read more on promises made. Reminds me of Xeno's paradox -- if you always go part way you never get there.
Thousands of former child camel jockeys in four countries are a step closer to being compensated by the Government.Read the rest here.
A senior Ministry of Interior delegation left for Pakistan yesterday, marking the start of an undertaking to track down and compensate the former jockeys.
The Government has previously said it would compensate jockeys who were trafficked and repatriated over the past 16 years.
The seven-member delegation will also travel to Bangladesh, Sudan and Mauritania over the next four weeks to meet government officials, as well as some of the former jockeys – some of whom are now adults – and their families.
Under the compensation plan, the jockeys will receive a minimum of US$1,000 (Dh3,673) regardless of how long they spent in the sport.
Those who sustained injuries while riding will receive larger amounts, while families of boys who died will also receive compensation.
“We will give [compensation] to anyone who worked as a rider in the Emirates – if you worked as a rakbee [rider] in the UAE, then we will give you compensation,” said Col Naser al Minhali, director of the Naturalisation and Residence Department at the ministry before flying to Lahore, the first stop on the mission’s trip to Pakistan.
“The Emirates was not forced to give compensation, but the UAE realised it had a problem and wanted to abolish it, and indeed has abolished it and found a solution.”
Click "camel jockeys" to read more on promises made. Reminds me of Xeno's paradox -- if you always go part way you never get there.
Labels: camel jockeys
posted by John B. Chilton at 5/05/2008 03:54:00 AM
3 Comments:
Hmmm...without wanting to be egotistical or placing importance on what I wrote, that article appears to be, in part, a response to my post on the UAE Comm blog and on my blog. They even used the same Getty image.
The UAE donated US$8 million (Dh29.4m) to Unicef last year to fund projects helping the victims reintegrate into their societies.
Well - it was originally reported as US$9 million but who's counting? And if the money was donated to UNICEF, then how are all the other offices and NGOs that can be nominated in these countries (as per the CRIN.com report that I link to) get ready access to the money without interminable bureaucracy eating into the funds?
"The Emirates was not forced to give compensation, but the UAE realised it had a problem and wanted to abolish it, and indeed has abolished it and found a solution.”
Hahahahaha! How many Human Rights Reports and lawsuits does it take for a country to realise that human trafficking is not nice?
Unfortunately, it won't be easy for the average person to prove that the compensation is being paid and all is well, but I pray that it will happen as it should.
In the meantime I won't be holding my cynical breath.
Thanks for the update, John.
That's not being egotistical. I immediately thought of your post, which was one of the most researched posts at the UAE Community blog in months! That's how people should post.
I would say, the article was most certainly inspired by the post. It also wouldn't be the first time a daily takes its queue from there.
Thanks for the compliment, Dubai Entrepreneur.
I guess that if we get our blog post fodder from news reports then somewhere along the line the flow will be reversed, and journos will visit blogs for their inspiration!
Post a Comment
<< Home