KARACHI, May 6: Six more children who were being used as camel jockeys in the UAE and were deported as illegal immigrants, arrived here on Tuesday, bringing the total number of returning camel kids to 22 in a week.
The children, who arrived onboard a PIA flight (PK-236) from Abu Dhabi, were received by the officials of the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation at the Karachi airport.
The camel jockeys have been identified as Irshad, son of Mohammed Siddique; Shakeel, son of Mohammed Siddique; Sher Ali, son of Shaukat Ali; Mukhtar, son of Shaukat Ali; Irshad Ahmad Khan, son of Saeed Ahmad, and Shan Khan, son of Saeed Ahmad.
Two more persons, Mohammed Siddique and Shaukat Ali, who travelled separately from the children but arrived in the same flight, later sought the custody of four of the children. But as Siddique and Shaukat could not submit sufficient documentary evidence, the OPF officials turned down their request. The children were later sent to the Edhi home.
As Siddique and Shaukat introduced themselves as fathers of the four children, the OPF general manager, Mushtaq Ahmad, asked them to bring the Form-B of the National Registration Authority, their passports and certificates from the district Nazim, etc., to get the custody of the children.
The four children, while talking to Dawn, recognised their fathers.
Irshad, 8, and Shakeel, 6, told Dawn at the OPF office that when they were taken to the UAE, they were first afraid of the camels and they used to cry and would not even go near them, but gradually their fear subsided.
“Later, we were taught how to ride. Soon we were seen participating in races. The Shaikhs would give us prizes — Dirhams 50 or 100 — when we won, or would beat us severely if we lost a race.
“We never got any salary during our stay of nearly a couple of years. Our father might have received it,” they said.
Their father, Mohammed Siddique, said he came into contact with a Shaikh when he came to Rahimyar Khan for houbara hunting. “I was jobless and had six children — four boys and two girls — I asked him for a job and he offered three jobs — two for my young boys, Irshad and Shakeel, and one for me.”
“The boys would get Dirham 300 each and I would get Dirham 400 per month, the Sheikh had told me.
“I, accompanied by my wife Parveen, took my children to the UAE nearly two years back and worked at the Shaikh’s farms near Al-Ain.
“I used to look after the camels at the farm and my children started taking part in races. My wife returned home leaving the children, who were entered in her passport. She was caught on her return at the airport here, but after some understanding, she was let go and she went home. Now I have brought my children back,” he claimed.
The OPF officials said that the children have been sent by the Pakistan Embassy, while Siddique has travelled separately, though on the same flight.
Mukhtar, 7, and Sher Ali, 6, told Dawn that they had gone there, with their mother long time back and had been riding camels during their stay in the UAE.
Though they were tied with the camels, sometimes they fell down and got injured, but luckily not seriously.
“We were given wheat-floor bread (roti) and either Daal or lobia
(low-fat and low-calorie diet so that the kids’ weight does not increase). In the beginning, when we started riding camels in races, we were afraid of them when they ran, and would cry, but the camels did not stop and would even run faster. We rode camels in many races.”
Their father Shaukat Ali (Passport No: G 911889 and NIC No: 440- 59-149354) said he was a farm worker and did not earn much to feed his family having five children — three girls and 2 boys — while living in Pakistan.
“Once when my nephew, Sattar, who used to work at the UAE, informed me about the camel kids, I showed my eagerness. So Sattar sent tickets and visa for me and my two boys.
“Two years back, we left for the UAE via Iran as I feared that we might be caught at the airports here. I was paid Dirhams 500 each per month for me and my children.
“The children were employed as camels kids while I grew grass in Shaikh’s fields and fed the camels. Beside my boys, I saw a large number of children from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and other poor countries at the Shaikh’s camel enclosure.”
“During our over a couple of years’ stay there, I saw many young children being crushed to death when the camels fell down.
“I used to pray for the safety of my children as I had seen many being crushed, and luckily during our over stay there, nothing serious happened to them,” he added.
Responding to Dawn’s queries, OPF’s Mushtaq Ahmad said that though these two people had come with the children in the same flight from Abu Dhabi, they travelled separately. They did not approach the Pakistan Embassy in the UAE, nor did they tell the immigration staff about their children.
Now after the arrival of the children in Pakistan, they are claiming themselves to be their parents.
The children would be handed over their parents, if the government was satisfied about it, and until and unless, the real parents are located, they would stay at the Edhi Centre.
Responding to a question, he said that the DNA test could be a perfect way to check the parentage, but he did not know if the children could be subjected to such tests here.
Parents of two other children — Irshad Ahmad Khan and Shahan Khan who speak Seraiki — have not yet approached the OPF. The temporary passes issued by the Pakistan Embassy at the Abu Dhabi has given their address as Nabi Bux Village, Taluka Kashmore, Jacobabad district.
The young children, usually belonging to the poverty-stricken desert areas of the Southern Punjab are sent to the Gulf states, particularly to the UAE, to act as camel jockeys in the traditional camels races, which are very popular among locals there.
The parents are paid a merger amount for their children’s participation in the deadly sport in which many children have lost their lives.
Pakistan is also a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of a
Child, which bans use of children in activities in which their lives are in danger.
