Dubai's ruler accused of slavery

[DoYouEverWonder]

14 September 2006

Dubai's ruler has been accused of enslaving thousands of young children for camel races in a class-action lawsuit filed in the US.

The action claims Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, his brother Hamdam and 500 others are responsible for abducting and trafficking the children.

It was filed on behalf of six unidentified parents and thousands of unnamed children.

There has been no comment on the action from the accused.

The children were said to be from Bangladesh, Sudan and southern Asia.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5346430.stm


This is the country that we were going to let run our ports. Way to go, BushCo.

[Erika]

1. We get more truth out of BBS then W/corporatists allow here n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. The case was filed in Miami

where Sheikh Mohammed and his brother, Sheikh Hamdam bin Rashid al-Maktoum, have property. The two, along with the other 500 defendants who the suit says are as yet unknown, face nine counts. They include engaging in slavery, conspiring to engage in slavery, engaging in or facilitating child labour, battery, assault, infliction of emotional distress and wrongful death.


I've got the feeling this thing might have pretty long tentacles.

[woodsprite]

4. Well, now we know where those unaccounted for FL foster kids got to. n/t

[BadGimp]

2. Dear God let this not be true.

Words fail to caprute the depth of human depravity required to engage in something like this.

I pray for the children and their parents.

[RebelOne]

14. It is definitely true. It's been in the news before.

I read an article about it not too long ago complete with photos.

[Yupster]

16. Yes - hardly breaking news

There have been stories about this right here on DU for years.

[ellenfl]

5. dubai IS going to run our ports. just watch. eom

[JCMach1]

9. No, Carlyle group... one should always be careful

what they ask for... you just might get...

[JCMach1]

10. Gee, a US ambulance chaser files a frivolous lawsuit and it

makes US MSM-- Americans get to express shock and outrage at those horrible Arabs again.

It shouldn't shock me though. That's the usual state of affairs.

Meanwhile, the MSM ignores the fact the the UAE's first Democratic elections will be held in December.

"The procedures to elect half of the members of the Federal National Council (FNC) are in place with all the emirates having named members of the electoral college, the Minister of State for FNC Affairs said yesterday..." http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/09/14/10067399.html

[AJ9000]

11. The UAE's FIRST democractic election? So the US was considering

doing business with an undemocratic tyranny?

[JCMach1]

12. hardly a tyranny...

I usually feel more free here than I do when I am home in the states...

The UAE is a tiny (4 million people) monarchy that is shifting to Democracy (with a big D) step by step). Here, the government and rulers has heavily invested in the development of the country with oil profits.

Last year GDP growth was 27% http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093127309

Only 5% of the economy is now oil-related... Trade, tourism and manufacture make the bulk of the economy.

[ellenfl]

17. dubai strikes me as being more

capitalist than anything else. is that a fair assessment? i am not sure that their owning companies globally is a bad thing but it sure gets the righties riled up! even so, imo americans should run (and secure) american ports. of course, some, to many, of our ports are already run by foreign concerns so this is not something new. if * hadn't declared jihad on all muslims, dubai would have been a non-issue.

ellen fl

[JCMach1]

19. Dubai is capitalism to the Nth degree

Everything is for sale... That sometimes produces social problems as well (of course)

The issue of child jockeys was one they moved to fix as soon as possible.

[0007]

21. I believe ya!

[otherlander]

6. I heard about something like this happening in Pakistan

a few years ago, money-lenders who would get poor families to owe them money, and then force them to sell their children to the camel-racing business, or brick or rug factories. The government was trying to crack down on it, but the police force was corrupt and turned a blind eye. That probably sounds about right to our government...if only those damn minimum wage lags wouldn't get in their way.

Here's the story of one boy who helped to free children from a factory where they were enslaved. He was only 13 when he was assassinated.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Heroes/Iqbal_Masih.html

[RebelOne]

15. Check out this site.

http://www.camelraces.com/

[Jack Rabbit]

7. Ah, yes, Bush cronies

Just like the Sauds, rulers of that progressive democratic fiefdom, Arabia.

Democracy is on the march in the Middle East, they tell us. Can they say anything that isn't a lie?

[JCMach1]

13. Shk. Maktoum has closer ties to Bill Clinton than the Bush

family... please check your facts...

[fujiyama]

8. Oh yeah

The UAE - the perfect place to have run our ports (and also some of the Bush family's best buddies) - recall, they were one of three countries to recognize the Taliban...oh and two or three of the 09/11 hijackers came from there...and several of the wealthy elite in the little oil rich nation state have funded terrorists...

And better yet they use abducted kids as enslaved camel jockies!

I can't express how sickening this truly is though. :puke:

[Megahurtz]

23. Yup, just when you think you couldn't hear anything worse.

:puke:

[Xenotime]

18. This is the guy * wanted running our ports...

cut of the same cloth it looks like.

[Turbineguy]

20. Kids make great container crane operators!

:sarcasm:

[lovuian]

22. I heard of stories that Vietnameese women are slaves there

and one girl displeased a ruler and he through her out of a 20 story Building

and never brought to trial

Slavery is right...

[Megahurtz]

24. Fucking Slime!

:mad: