JC / Railbird

International Archive

Good for Ireland

“Ireland’s racecourses are to become among the finest in Europe with a massive €200m cash boost, it emerged today. Minister for Sport John O’Donoghue said the huge five-year funding deal would modernise facilities for punters and match the commitment millions of race-goers had shown to the sport.” (Ireland On-Line)

Posted in International on November 22, 2004

Did He Know?

And could he have stopped it? Those are the questions being asked of Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai, a leading Thoroughbred owner, who has been placed “at the center of a longstanding international human rights controversy: the trafficking of impoverished children as young as 3 to the United Arab Emirates, where they are forced into slavery as camel jockeys.” Denials abound, but are met with skepticism by international human rights groups, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Posted in International on November 7, 2004

Child Enslavement Alleged

“Sheik Mohammed, one of the richest horse buyers in Kentucky and the world, has been implicated in the slave trade of child camel jockeys by a cable TV news program. A report aired this week on HBO’s Real Sports includes footage of appalling living conditions at camel-training camps and alleges that boy camel jockeys — some as young as 3 — are kidnapped or sold into slavery, starved, beaten and raped. The report links the abuses to Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.” (Lexington Herald-Leader)

Posted in International on October 23, 2004