LGF Exclusive: Rare Camel Jockey Photos
Charles Johnson
Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 9:48 pm PDT • Views: 2,226
An LGF reader forwarded these photographs after reading our post about the suit against the Governor of Dubai for enslaving thousands of children as jockeys for camel races.
I visited the Middle East multiple times in the 90’s on business. These are pictures I took when our host took us to visit the camel racing track. We visited the track on a Friday and there were no races on their holy day. Our host told us many of the boys were Sudanese, and that their parents sent them to race camels because their children would get fed and cared for. He said the boys lived in the stables with the camels and the older boys looked after the younger ones. You can see how young the one in the picture appears to be. Maybe 5 years old? The visit was short, and conversation from me and my colleagues was pretty nonexistent. When we discussed this later, (without our host), we were appalled and uncomprehending. I always refused any invitations to the camel races. The least I could do is not support the practice with my attendance.
Frank says: