Child Camel Jockeys

The camel-racing circuit may have been the epitome of high life for wealthy sheikhs to show off champion camels, but it provided a bleak existence for its child jockeys. Before 2005, children as young as four were trafficked from countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sudan for use as jockeys in the Persian Gulf States' camel racing industry.

Official policies are now in place requiring a minimum weight of 45 kg of the jockey, these restrictions are ignored by most in the racing industry. However the government of the United Arab Emirates has agreed to send an estimated 3,000 child camel jockeys back to their home countries.