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Qatar trials robot camel
jockeys
Mon Mar 29, 2:39 2004 (AFP)
Robots have been used as jockeys in Qatar
for camel races, a favorite sport in the Gulf which has faced widespread
criticism over the use of young children from the Indian sub-continent
in such races. AFP/File Photo "A race organised on Sunday saw for the
first time the use of robot-jockeys, to the surprise of the crowd," said
the president of the organising committee of camel races in Qatar, Sheikh
Hamad bin Jassem bin Faisal al-Thani. Thani, quoted in Doha newspapers,
said the practice would be repeated and widened. The Gulf Arab monarchies
are trying to bring order to the national sport of camel racing in the
face of protests over the trafficking of children as jockeys. The US State
Department and human rights groups have raised the alarm over the exploitation
of small children by traffickers who pay impoverished parents a paltry
sum or simply resort to kidnapping their victims. The children, mostly
from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Pakistan, are then smuggled into the Gulf
states. They are often starved by employers to keep them light and maximise
their racing potential. Mounting camels three times their height, the
children -- some as young as six -- face the risk of being thrown off
or trampled. |
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