The United Arab Emirates [UAE] is divided into seven emirates. The second emirate is governed by the Maktoum family. Two brothers in the family-- Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum the Crown Prince of Dubai; and Sheikl Hamdan bin Rashid Al Mantoum the Deputy Ruler of Dubai and the UAE Minister of Finance-- have been named in a lawsuit filed in Miami, Florida the week of September 3rd, 2006. The brothers keep race horses on farms in Ocala, Florida which is why the lawsuit was permitted to be filed there.
The lawsuit was brought by parents of missing boys and it alleges that Sheikh Mohammad and Sheikh Hamdan have been involved in black-market purchases and kidnapping of young boys chiefly from India and Pakistan for import to the UAE so they can work as camel jockeys and stable hands. It is alleged that the boys are kept in substandard conditions in desert camps, given growth hormones to stunt their growth, and forced to work with the camels.
Camel racing is a dangerous undertaking. UAE camels have one hump. Boys have been trampled to death and otherwise injured by the camels. Undersized jockeys are preferred because less weight enables camels to go at top speeds. Boys who begin to gain weight as they get older are put to work as stable hands. Around the age of twelve, they are often arrested as illegal immigrants and given prison sentences. Those boys who are returned to India and Pakistan are often left in the streets of the "nearest slum" since records of their origins are not kept. A couple posing as parents of boys enable their crossing to the UAE when first taken. There are no "parents" availabe to help them when they are either brought back or arrested.
Sheikh Mohammad was served notice on the lawsuit on September 11, 2006 while attending Keeneland's Special Yearling Sale of racing thoroughbreds. Together with his bloodstock advisor John Ferguson, they topped the buyers' list there this year.
Read and learn.
radical sapphoq
Thanks to Lilly over at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-by2ZNJo4aKc7ON.DLInKEozU?p=681 for providing the links below and alerting me to this story:
http://www.keeneland.com/livesales/press_releases/details.asp?PID=2073 http://www.bloodhorse.com/rss/article.asp?id=35307
http://www.sheikhmohammed.co.ae/english/history/history.asp http://www.sheikmohammed.co.ae/english/biography/crown.asp http://www.sheikhhamdan.ae/english/horse_racing.htm
http://www.ameinfo.com/82534.html
http://www.uaeone.com/traditions/camelracing.htm
http://www.camelraces.com
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