The UAE government is sending the jockeys back to their countries of origin under an agreement with Unicef. The children whose future was effectively ruined by their stint as camel jockeys deserve adequate compensation -- a point that the repatriating government cannot overlook. The immorality of pushing children towards mortal dangers is not made up for by merely getting them back home. The authorities failed to show due concern for human lives and did nothing to stop the sport though there were protests from all quarters in the past.

Now that they see reason, all concern must see through the entire process of their rehabilitation, too. The children should be given vocational training and they need support until attaining adulthood. It is much more than a question of giving money to their parents.

Unicef played the key role in identifying and rescuing the trapped jockeys, but our government cannot evade the responsibility for failing to prevent them from being taken out of the country through devious means and used in a hazardous sport.

Since the lives of such a large number of children were at stake, we demand a thorough investigation into the matter. The questions that must be pursued are: how and under which circumstances these children were trafficked out of the country; who are the people responsible for their doom; and why the law enforcers failed to do anything about it? The illegal business had been going on for a pretty long time, but the government was unable to take any regulatory measure.

It was our duty to protect our children and not allow them to be used in a barbaric sport far away from their home.