Over 2,000 Pakistani camel-jockeys languishing in UAE
Pakistan Times National News Desk

ISLAMABAD: More than 2,000 ailing Pakistani children belonging to poor class are languishing in miserable conditions in so-called protected houses in Abu Dhabi. They were smuggled into the UAE for camel riding.

The presence of the children of less than six years of age has come to the light through courtesy of UAE government officials and some non-governmental organizations working internationally.

This startling disclosure has been made by the Minister of State for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, Tariq Azim, in a chat with noted journalist Muhammad Saleh Zaafir of The News here on Monday evening. The Minister dashed to Abu Dhabi to discuss the matter with Prince Saif Al-Nahyan, the Interior Minister of the UAE. They are meeting in Abu Dhabi Tuesday (today).

The minister revealed that Pakistan's ambassador in the UAE, Air Marshal Qaiser Hussain, has already got rescued 134 such children from the smugglers' captivity. The death of some children has also been reported.

The UAE government has enacted legislation to deal with this cruel sport wherein small children were used as jockeys. The government has forbidden riding of less than 16-years of age or a child having weight less than 45 kg as jockey of camel. But some cheats are still involved in the business by using illegal means.

They get the age and weight of the children changed by scratching the original documents with the connivance of the airport staff and immigration officials on the both sides, the minister said.

Describing the plight of the children, the minister said that the children who fell off the running camels are either crushed to death or injured. Such children are not even provided with adequate food or proper treatment, he added.

The minister disclosed that in most cases smugglers get hold of abducted children and show them as children of fake mothers hired by them. On reaching the UAE, the fake mothers hand over the children to the "rider mafia" and return Pakistan under the pretext of some emergency with the help of some officials. They are given another set of children for the same cycle.

A staff member of Pakistan's mission in the UAE was sent back recently on the charges of his involvement in such "trade", the minister added. The UAE embassy sources told this scribe that the UAE government has taken strict steps to check such activities and severe punishment is given to those involved in children riding.●