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Child slavery suit charges 30,000 held in camel-racing camps

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, September 18, 2006

WASHINGTON — U.S. relations with the United Arab Emirates could face another challenge amid a suit that charged the Gulf state's vice president with enslaving tens of thousands of children.

UAE Vice President Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has been accused of enslaving about 30,000 children, some of them as young as two, since 1975.

The suit filed in U.S. district court in Miami charged that Al Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai, and his brother, Hamdan, ordered the stealing of the children to raise them as camel jockeys, Middle East Newsline reported.

"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," the suit said.

The 56-page suit, filed on Sept. 13, could test the U.S. commitment to end human trafficking. The UAE, a leading defense client of the United States, has been cited as a major violator of human trafficking.

The Al Maktoums have property in Florida, including a horse ranch. The Dubai crown prince has not responded to the suit.

The six plaintiffs in the case have not been identified, but were said to be parents of children stolen by the UAE leaders. The suit said agents for Al Maktoum took young boys from such countries as Bangladesh and Sudan and transferred them to Dubai where they were forced to train camels and perform as jockeys.

The suit does not ask for specific compensation for the victims. Instead, the plaintiffs called for a jury to determine the damages.

"We hope to punish the perpetrators of these vile crimes and compensate the victims for their pain and suffering," Ron Motley, an attorney with the South Carolina-based law firm Motley Rice LLC, said.


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

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