Sale of boys as camel jockeys in UAE |
India Daily Dubai: Despite a ban on the use of young boys as jockeys in camel racing ,young children are still being brought into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by unscrupulous agents from the Indian sub-continent for this traditional sport.In yet another such instance, the Abu Dhabi police have rescued two Pakistani boys, who were kidnapped from their home in Dera Ghazi Khan in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), some three months ago. The two boys--Shajar (six) and Shajawar (four)-- were brought illegally to the UAE via Iran by two unscrupulous agents named Gul Ahmed and Sharo Mai on forged passports and with false birth certificates. In the UAE, the two boys were sold to a Pakistani agent for 20,000 dirhams (about Rs 2,40,000) each. Local newspapers here said the kidnapping of the two boys, who are brothers, came to light when their relatives lodged a complaint with a welfare trust in Karachi. Following this, Ansar Burney, a Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist, who runs the trust, came to the UAE in search of the two boys. The boys' father, who works as a gardener in Dubai, had no idea that his children had been kidnapped and were living a pathetic life in a camp. Burney was quoted as saying in the media that the two boys were spotted at Al-Ain, a township near Abu Dhabi. ''When we visited the camp where the two boys were staying, we were not allowed to go anywhere near the boys by the camp supervisors, who were mostly Asians. To overcome this problem, we got in touch with the Pakistani Embassy, which was quick to enlist the support of the UAE interior ministry.'' Burney said ''The Abu Dhabi police responded positively by sending two CID Officers along with us to the camp. The boys were handed over to us without further hassle by the camp authorities.'' He said Shajawar, the younger boy, was now bed-ridden as he had suffered serious injuries in both his legs after a fall from a camel's back. Police have reportedly taken into custody a Pakistani expatriate for questioning but the couple, who brought the two boys into UAE posing as their parents, are absconding. A Pakistan Embassy spokesman was quoted as saying that the two boys would be repatriated to Pakistan once legal formalities were completed. A few months back, a nine-year-old Pakistani boy was rescued from the clutches of his kidnappers when he gave them a slip and reached a police station in Abu Dhabi with the assistance of some people. UNI Press Back on your browser to Return
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