Human Rights Leader asks Gulf and Arab countries to ban Slave Labour and release all children: DUBAI - The Pakistan's most renowned human rights activist, Ansar Burney has demanded from the Gulf, Middle East and Arab countries to release all the underage children from Private Jails, working on slave labour as child camel jockeys. Ansar Burney, widely known as human rights �Angel� said that some 40,000 small children, mostly from Asian countries including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, SriLanka, Somalia and Sudan are being used in Gulf, Middle East and Arab Countries, as "child camel jockeys" against their will and under most miserable circumstances. These children whose ages are from two years to seven years are living in private jails on slave labour in most miserable circumstances. He lauded the great efforts of the United Arab Emirates leadership on their kind cooperation with Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International in combating the heinous crime from the land of UAE and also establishing a Shelter Home in Abu Dhabi for the rescued children from camel jockeys camps. This Shelter Home for the rescued child camel jockeys is the first of its kind in the entire region dedicated to helping the small children after they are rescued by Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International with the kind cooperation of the UAE Authorities. Burney said the facility illustrates the UAE government�s policy to eliminate the sport�s use of underage children. Ansar Burney, by profession a senior lawyer, is Chairman of the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International, Prisoners Aid Society and Bureau of Missing and Kidnapped Children/Persons. He has already rescued hundreds of such children whose ages are from one and a half to six years old and rehabilitated them in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and other parts of the world. Ansar Burney, also the member of International Bar Association (UK) and American Bar Association (USA) has demanded with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt and other parts of Gulf, Middle East and Arab regions to banned slavery and released all the children at once with paying some compensation to them. He said the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International is ready to help the respective governments for the rehabilitation of these children in their respective home countries. Mr. Burney says: "These innocent children of humanity are living in iron tents, without electricity, and in temperatures above 50 degree centigrade (over 100 degree Fahrenheit). Sexual abuse in this environment is all too common, even electric shocks. The children are purposely underfed so that their weight is kept down." The agents are giving them electric shocks if any small boy will not work properly. "The food they are given in the camps is very dirty and unhygienic. They have to feed the camels, but are beaten if they try to eat the animals 'good' food. They are allowed to eat only half a loaf of bread in 24 hours. They get up at 3:00 in the morning and go to sleep at 9:00 at night working for 18 hours a day". Human Rights 'Angel' Ansar Burney said. "They sleep in hot crowded huts made from corrugated irons sheets. It's boiling hot out in the desert yet they have to train twice or three times a day. It�s hard and painful work and, after a while, the boys have permanent damage to their sexual organs from bouncing up and down on the camel". "During training and in races they often fall down and are badly injured or crushed to death. Because it's illegal to keep underage jockeys they never receive medical treatment and some of them die very painful deaths. Their bodies are just buried out in the desert in unmarked graves". Burney added. Ansar Burney says the Rulers and Sheikhs of the ruling families in these countries own most of the camel camps and are responsible of this heinous crime against humanity. The trafficking of young children for forced labour is one of the fastest growing areas in international crime. A study by the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International pointed out that child trafficking is not new but it is a current practice in most of the Middle East and Arab region. It has, however, gathered considerably momentum over the past few years. It is the work of international networks that have made it a sophisticated and well-organised human trafficking industry in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and other poor countries. It has become a means to earn a living for those criminals who torture the lives of these innocent children and gain pleasure from their tears and cursing. Camel racing in the Region is an old sport but they do not using there own children as jockeys. During his work and research over several years on this particular issue Mr. Burney never found any Arab child being used as a jockey. Why is trafficking of children so popular? The root causes are multiple and complex. Some are obvious such as extreme levels of poverty. It is far easier to persuade parents to part with their children when if they don't sell one or two of their children they will all die of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and ignorance. Inadequate legislation and weak enforcement of related laws also contribute heavily to the problem. Greedy organized groups have made this into a business at the expense of the lives of these children. The trafficking of children for use as camel jockeys is strictly prohibited by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and by ILO Conventions 29, 138 and 182. All of these laws have been ratified by the UAE but the problem is still growing at an alarming rate. During the last 11 months hundreds of children were rescued by the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International, from the UAE, Muscat, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Arab and Middle East countries after working for more than two and three years as camel jockeys. Recently the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International has made a video documentary film of more than 30 hours with a hidden video camera on the plight of these unfortunate children. The children are attached to the camels back with Velcro fastenings but so rough is the ride that many of them fall off. One of the 'advantages' of using children as jockeys is that their terrified cries make the camels run even faster. Many of the child jockeys have been kidnapped from their villages in countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Sudan. Agents have bought some from impoverished families. Others are lured from home with promises to their families that they will be employed as domestic servants in cities in their own countries. Ansar Burney demanded for the immediate release of all such children from Private Jails and Slavery. End. ********************************* ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/VL0olB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Peruuta ryhm�n tilaus l�hett�m�ll� s�hk�postia osoitteeseen: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kominform2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[kominform2] Human Rights Leader asks Gulf and Arab countries to ban Slave Labour and release
Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International Thu, 09 Dec 2004 00:42:42 -0800
