Rescued child camel jockeys handed over to extremist groups

ANN (15 September 2007)

MULTAN, September 15:  Dozens of former child camel jockeys repatriated to Pakistan after years of slavery in the Middle East are being handed over to extremist groups; while over a thousand other child camel jockeys are missing, according to a leading Pakistani human rights organization.

Fahad Burney, vice-chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust, stated today (September 15th) that repatriated children as young as 4 were being handed over to ‘Madrassas’ (religious schools) funded and controlled by extremist groups in Pakistan.

The children, released from camel farms in the Middle East where they worked as slaves, were repatriated to Pakistan after a ban was brought into place against their use in Kuwait, Qatar and UAE.

The Ansar Burney Trust, which played a vital role in bringing about the ban in these countries after more than 20 years of campaigning, administered the first shelter home for rescued child camel jockeys established in Abu Dhabi; and currently monitors the repatriation of these children to their home countries.

According to the Trust, the children repatriated to Pakistan from Middle Eastern countries, particularly Qatar and the UAE were handed over to their families with minimal financial support and no medical treatment - despite the fact that the majority of them required medical attention because of their broken bones, serious burns, infections and mental disabilities. Virtually all also lacked basic language and social skills.

Due to the high costs of medical bills and an inability to reintegrate these children back into the households by their families because of their lack of social and language skills, many parents have opted to handing the children over to extremist run ‘Madrassas’ (religious schools) in many parts of Pakistan - according to the Ansar Burney Trust.

To date, nearly 400 former child camel jockeys have arrived in Pakistan from the UAE alone. Many of whom were handed over to parents who had sold them to traffickers in the first place, despite protests by anti-trafficking organizations.  

“Now the same parents are once again selling the children to traffickers who are taking them back to the Middle East to participate in illegal camel races that still take place; or sending them to extremist run schools that take on the costs for the children’s upbringing” Fahad Burney said.

“We have already seen this in Bangladesh, where repatriated children who our teams had met, were a few months later seen by us back in the Middle East once again working as camel jockeys” Burney stated.

“At one location in Punjab province, we came across over 40 former child camel jockeys receiving their education at an extremist funded and controlled Madrassa” said Fahad Burney, vice-chairman of Ansar Burney Trust.

“At another location in Sindh, we came across a Madrassa funded and controlled by a banned extremist organization. There were 8 former child camel jockeys here.” he stated.

The Ansar Burney Trust warned that unless action was taken to remove these children from such schools, they may very likely be transformed into a next generation of extremists and terrorists.

Meanwhile, the Trust also reported that thousands of former child camel jockeys are still missing from Kuwait, Qatar and UAE.

“The children, who disappeared from camel farms when the new laws were introduced, are still missing... Some of the children, whose details we had gathered through our informers at camel farms and racing tracks, have not returned to their homes. There whereabouts are unknown.” said Fahad Burney.

It is suspected that these missing children may still be employed as camel jockeys at unofficial camel races. The Ansar Burney Trust has reported several times recently through video evidence, that the use of children as camel jockeys remains in the countries where the bans have been put in place.

For more information, visit the Ansar Burney Trust website at: www.ansarburney.org