Qatar's new law banning the use of children as camel jockeys gained praise from the United States, although the law came too late to keep Doha off the annual US blacklist for human trafficking.
"The United States welcomes the new law of the State of Qatar banning the use of anyone under the age of 18 as a camel jockey," said US Ambassador Chase Untermeyer.
Qatar issued a decree last month threatening jail sentences of three to 10 years for anyone using child jockeys in camel races and fines of up to 55,000 dollars.
"Unfortunately, this law was not enacted within the March 1, 2004 to March 1, 2005 review period for the Department of State's annual Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report, which was released last week," he said.
"Therefore, it could not be taken into account in the report's ranking of Qatar," he said.
Untermeyer said "in the months ahead, the US government looks forward to the implementation of the new law, and to the rescue and repatriation of child camel jockeys," most of whom are smuggled by traffickers from Asia.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates were added to the US blacklist for human trafficking in the State Department's fifth annual "Trafficking in Persons Report" released last Friday.
They were among 14 states in the US report ranked "Tier 3," as the worst offenders who could face sanctions if they do not improve within 90 days.
"The US embassy in Doha will work with the government of Qatar to improve its anti-trafficking efforts before the mid-year review late this summer," said Untermeyer.
