A scene from the film Camels in the Outback.
BY RAYNALD C RIVERA
DOHA: A Qatari who travels thousands of miles to find solution to mass killings of camels in Australia is the subject of a documentary vying for honours at this year’s edition of Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival.
In Camels in the Outback, Qatari businessman and former camel herder Ali Sultan Al Hajri journeys to Australia to talk to people about the Australian government’s policy to kill one third of over a million camels which are seen as a curse in the country while they are considered a blessing in this region.
“I am the son of the Arabian desert. We Arabs cannot stay away from camels,” said Al Hajri, who has developed his own way of knowing every camel through its unique characteristics doing camel herding as a job when he was young.
While Arabs spend millions in auctions to acquire the best camels, in Australia they are shot by private contractors or by anyone who sees them anywhere.
Camels first arrived in Australia in mid 1800s from India and Pakistan. They were used to carry loads and during explorations but with the emergence of modern transportation they were ordered to be destroyed.
Four years ago, Australia allocated millions of dollars to kill one third of over a million camels in the outback saying they pose danger to environment, destroy property and compete with livestock.
“People in Australia kill them for nothing in the wrong way,” said Mansour Al Mansouri, associate producer who broached the idea of making the film.
Mansouri said it is a big issue that deserves to be turned into a documentary which took over a year to make.
“Finding the right people especially the main character, who had the knowledge of camels and could express the issue well to viewers, was one of the main challenges which took us time,” he told The Peninsula after the screening of the film yesterday.
He said the huge number of reactions from people not only Arabs detesting the practice speaks of the seriousness of the issue which needs a solution.
“The camels can have economic benefits selling their milk and meat rather than shooting them and having them rot in the desert,” he added.
The sight of a camel being shot and its lifeless body dragged away left Al Hajri in tears, making it one of the most poignant part of the 48-minute film. “Just looking at the dead bodies of camels breaks my heart,” he says as he wipes out his tears.
The film ends with Al Hajri planning to talk to friends and business associates of the possibility of building an industry to finally put an end to inhumane killings of the camels. The documentary was directed by Yasir Khan, senior producer at Aljazeera English Channel and produced by Aljazeera English.
The Peninsula
