Yesterday was a unique day. We, along with Amal, our partner-in-crime, and friend Ranjit headed to a Qatar camel race in al-Shahnniya, some 40 km outside Doha. What we saw and experienced there was quite memorable.
When we first arrived at the racing complex, we were a bit early so we wandered about and ran into some of the camel jockeys. I was shocked to see how young and tiny they were. Mostly they were Sudanese and between maybe 7-10 years old. We talked with them and took some pictures. But then things started getting tense. Some organizers or security for the facility approached us and asked us — quite angrily — not to talk with the jockeys or take pictures of them. They were very tense and kept following us around to make sure we didn’t come near the jockeys.
My analysis is that since Qatar recently banned camel jockeys and is now working on robots to replace the young kids (now being copied in the UAE), officials are feeling uneasy about giving the kids any extensive exposure, especially this being their last season. It might reflect badly on the Gulf state of Qatar since it has now been established that the use of child camel jockeys is really a form of child abuse.
After the encounter with the officials, we drove around and found ourselves in a huge camel market. I have to confess, I had never seen so many camels in one place in my life. Jeff and Ranjit, the two shutterbugs of the group, immediately embarked on taking pictures while Amal and myself busied ourselves talking with the vendors and asking them about the camels and how much they cost. Man, camels are expensive!
Amal also rode a camel for the first time in her life! I was shocked to know that she had never done it before. Apparently, there are no camels in Lebanon! Anyway, we headed back to the racetrack and caught the fourth round of the race. It was so surreal. People here follow the race by driving their SUV’s around the outside of the 2-km long track beeping and hollering. We did the same. All packed into Rajnit’s SUV, we chased those racing camels. We did that for the following rounds as well and believe me when I tell you, it was exhilarating. I have never seen anything like it in my life.
There were many young men -– mostly from neighboring gulf countries — following the race that were so passionate about what was going on. I even saw a Qatari guy, who I assumed was an owner of one of the racing camels, talking to his jockey via walkie-talky, coaching him I guess.
I’m so glad we got to see this while we are still here. It was a fascinating experience. I wonder if the passion among the young men that own and watch the races will still be there when the camel jockeys are replaced by robots, which will supposedly be implemented next year. [More pictures coming in a photo album]
I don’t think so. We didn’t see any and it is regarded as against Islamic practice. Most all involved are part of teams, not so much just plain spectators. In fact, there is a grandstand but it was completely empty. We were right there track side.
Those involved are very interested in the prizes, which included a full maybe 40-50 SUVs, ranging from little Toyota full-cabs to full size Landcruisers and the top prize of a BMW X5. I think there is also a prize from the Emir himself. The prizes and the haram nature of gambling keep the focus on the show. The races last a week.
Is there gambling?
I think the key is to keep the jockey as light as possible? Even the little boys that are currently used are fed miserable diets to keep them from gaining weight.
Why not employ small adults as jockeys, as in horse racing? Would it too greatly reduce the speed of the camel?
sweeeettt…
Ahh…this is so much like home, it reminds me of my white camel which I got for my Tawjihi graduation…
But on the serious side, it is not injuries alone that one is worried about. For one, I don’t think they have access to good education. The jockeys are “imported” from poor area or countries. I do not intend to start a whole discussion that I may not be able to follow but this practice is another form of slavery and I feel that the “gulf” mentality condones slavery. Just look at that retarded Saudi show “Tash ma tash”, it makes me sick all those jokes they crack about migrant workers but at the same time they portray what happens in 90%+ of the households.
I don’t think that in all cases the families of the children benefit that much. In many cases these little children are kidnapped from their homes and smuggled into the Gulf. I saw a documentary last year on HBO’s Real Sports that showed shocking footage of the conditions that the young boys were kept in, in the UAE. There were even allegations of rape and physical abuse.
Here’s a link to more about this issue, and also a mention of the HBO documentary that was aired last year:
http://tinyurl.com/5bf9n/
We all felt the same. The kids that we met were very nice, though, making the problem yet more tangible. The whole situation is a bit sticky. I believe they are paid little but the position is one of pride for their family. I believe the family is provided housing, perhaps food as well and, naturally, they come from very poor regions. So there is pressure on these little kids besides the dangers.
What dangers? Falling off! The camels are tall and they get around that track. Any jockey that falls off their mount risks injury. But these are small children and they are much higher than a horse so that danger is multiplied.
All that said, it was tremendously exhilarating to watch. No kids were injured that we saw and there was a feeling of real heady excitement there. Big prizes are on offer: cars, money, etc. There was a heavy Omani contingent, as well as flags from all over the GCC and Tunisia (I think).
Looking at the picture of the real robot in the UAE on the camel, I wonder too if it’ll generate the same excitement. Of course the kids are a bit akin to robots, propped up there with the owner riding alongside sending commands to them via radio. So switching to a remote controlled robot won’t be that much of a change from the owner’s side. And obviously it removes the abuse element and opens things up to be fun without the guilt.
This is the last season in Qatar, we understand, for live jockeys. The UAE is there now. I’m not sure how the rest of the Gulf is implementing the change or IF they are.
They’ll be using kids the next year too, don’t buy into the hype.
It’s so sad looking at the picture of those little boys and seeing how young they really are. I really don’t understand how people can enjoy a sport so much when the little children forcibly engaged in it are suffering so much. I’m glad they are finally doing something about replacing these child jockeys. This has been going on for so long, and I’m surprised more noise hasn’t been made about it.