No child to be trafficked from Asia
Says UAE top cop on camel jockeys
Porimol Palma
Children of the Asian and African countries are unlikely to be trafficked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as camel jockeys since the country formulated stringent laws preventing the use of children as jockeys, an UAE police official said yesterday."We have no kids working as camel jockeys as the UAE government banned using children for this purpose about one year back," said Major Ibrahim Hassan Marzouqi, head of juvenile care section of Abu Dhabi police. The UAE's police official is on an unofficial visit to Dhaka to inquire about the former camel jockeys who had been repatriated to Bangladesh. At least 164 children returned home since August last year and four are waiting repatriation at a cell in Dubai. "There is no question of using children as jockeys in the camel races in future as robots have replaced the jockeys," Major Ibrahim told The Daily Star. The UAE government also formulated a law that prevents foreign nationals earning less than 4,000 Durham a month from staying in the country with their family members. Most traffickers used to take the children there as parents. People aged above 18 years and weighing over 45 kilograms will be employed only in camel training, the major who is also facilitating the total repatriation process on the UAE part said. The UAE had banned using children aged below 18 years and weighing less than 45 kilograms as camel jockeys following international pressures. The UAE has sent 1034 former camel jockeys to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Mauritania and only 24 are waiting repatriation in the deportation cell in Dubai. The UAE government is also paying $1000 to each of the children as compensation, he added.
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